Former Crystal Palace wonderkid John Bostock has revealed he rejected a ten-year contract from Barcelona when he was simply 14 years previous.
The LaLiga giants have been determined to land the then highly-sought after midfielder – with golf equipment throughout Europe vying for his signature – Bostock was even despatched a signed Ronaldinho in a bid to land him.
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Getty Photos – Getty
“Once I was 14, Barcelona provided me a ten-year contract,” Bostock instructed BBC Sport.
“Ronaldinho was my favorite participant on the time so that they despatched me a signed poster from him. I’ve nonetheless received it at my home in London. It stated, ‘To John from Ronaldinho.’
“You identify the membership, I had curiosity from them. Barcelona, Actual Madrid, Inter, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool – the who’s who of European soccer.
“From as early as I keep in mind I needed to be one of the best participant on the planet and to win the Ballon d’Or.
“I noticed Ronaldinho win these trophies and I simply thought I wish to be that man. I pinned my id on that and I assumed if I didn’t obtain that I used to be a failure.”
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Bostock ended up remaining at Selhurst Park and made historical past when he grew to become the youngest participant to characteristic for the membership when he made his skilled debut aged 15 years and 287 days.
The £700,000 switch to Tottenham which adopted sparked fury amongst many personnel at Palace – none extra so than then chairman Simon Jordan.
Bostock was launched by Spurs in 2013 and in complete has featured for 13 completely different golf equipment spanning a 13-year interval.
Amongst them have been mortgage spells at Brentford, Hull and Sheffield Wednesday.
Bostock did take pleasure in relative success in Belgium and France with OH Leuven and RC Lens respectively, however then largely flattered to deceive at each Bursapor and Toulouse.
The 28-year-old left the latter by mutual consent in October and is now on the hunt for a brand new membership, ideally in England.
