Crystal Palace boss Neil Warnock says Simon Jordan is so disillusioned over the John Bostock affair that he could walk away from football.The 16-year-old agreed a five-year contract with Tottenham when his contract at Selhurst Park expired at the start of the month, but the clubs went to arbitration when they could not agree a fee.
Eagles owner Jordan wanted in the region of £5million for the player, who was still 15 when he made his first-team debut in October, but the tribunal settled on a fee rising to £1.25million.
And Warnock fears it could be a tipping point for Jordan.
He told the Daily Mirror: "I've never seen Simon as disillusioned as I did last week.
"He's still enthusiastic about Palace, but he feels utterly saddened by the way football is heading.
"He was devastated, absolutely rock bottom, because he loves the academy and he knows how important it is to the club.
"But he's questioning himself now and saying: 'I don't know whether I want to be involved in the game any more if it's like this'. And I think he's being serious."
Warnock claims Bostock has the "potential to go all the way", but reckons he has chosen the wrong time to move into the Premier League.
He added: "Bostock would have broken into our first team next season and played regularly in the Championship.
"Is he going to get in Spurs' team ahead of (Luca) Modric? There's no way he'll get in the side for three or four years - he would have been better off getting 50 or 100 games with us."
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I for one AM complaining, I dont want Berba to go, or Keano...but were gonna get bloody good money for them, by the sound of things £28 mill for Berba...and thats the point, palace dont feel they are gettin the money they deserve for the player and believe me mate if our academy was any better and we produced a Bostock you would be fumin if it happened to us...we have spent such stupid money over past four seasons on average players that havnt improved us at all...we should have spent it on our academy.
all im gonna say is that its the kids loss. if he has chosen the life of greed already at such a young age then there is nothing that Jordan, Warnock or any other Championship club can do about it. Palace have shown that they have the talent in their academy and that they can consistently produce quality young players who Premiership clubs take interest in. the only thing they need to do now is teach them about pride and loyalty, the same as every club academy across the country should do. only then would we see clubs reap the benefits from their own academies.
Jordan and now Warnock should stop whinning, he's gone, get over it. OK he came through your academy, so what, thats the gamble you take.
Do you expect to keep just the ones you like, while the others who don't fit into your plans you throw away.
You can't have it both ways.
If the player has the potential to go all the way, then surely he's better off with a bigger club, with better coaches and facilities to realize that potential.
With all this whinning, it's just going to unsettle the player, or is that the plan. Spurs should do something if you do unsettle him.
Look at us, we have one of the best strikers around and we're about to lose him to Man United. Do you see us whinging, we may also lose Keano, do we complain. Quick answer, "NO WE DON'T".
So just get on with your academy with what you've got.
By the way, you have'nt got a couple of strikers we could pinch from your academy have yas
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