Jordan warns Spurs-bound Bostock

Bostock is one of the highest-rated youngsters in Europe, says Jordan

Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has warned John Bostock he could be making a mistake by joining Tottenham.

Jordan is furious after the 16-year-old midfielder was allowed to leave the club for just £700,000 - a fee decided by a Football League tribunal hearing.

"I use the word scandalous. It's a panel of halfwits," he told BBC London. "And while I wouldn't want to waste my breath giving advice to John, look at Wayne Routledge. He took the chance to join Spurs, but where is he now?"

Routledge left Palace to move to White Hart Lane in 2005 for a fee of £1.25m, but made just five appearances in two-and-a-half years at Tottenham.

Since then, spells at Portsmouth and Fulham proved only marginally more successful, while he has made just one substitute appearance since joining Aston Villa from Spurs for £1.25m in January.

"When Spurs came knocking I told Wayne to stay and learn his trade at Palace," said Jordan.

606: DEBATE We're all gutted at this tribunal because it's meant to reflect everything about the player - which means, in this case, it's a joke... Why do we bother? Noddy-The-Git

"But he went, he grabbed the money, and now he's at Villa not getting in the first team, just like he didn't get in the Spurs team, just like he didn't get in the Portsmouth team and just like he didn't get in the Fulham team."

However, Bostock appears to be a different proposition entirely.

The midfielder made his Palace debut aged 15 and, according to Jordan, has been tracked by Barcelona "for a long, long time," while Chelsea had a bid of £900,000 for him rejected when he was just 14.

And Jordan revealed he had asked Tottenham for up to £4.5m for Bostock: "We thought about a valuation - a reasonable one in our eyes, having looked at the benchmarks - of £2m up front, £500,000 more when he signed his first professional contract, and another £2m when he had made 40 first-team appearances.

"If you make 40 first-team appearances for Spurs in midfield, you are a £15m-£20m player, not £4.5m so we were extremely reasonable and far from over-zealous.

"Look at Aaron Ramsey. He is 17, played 17 games for Cardiff last season, and Arsenal have just paid £5m for him.

What this does is send out a message that academies and youth development policies are not worth investing in Simon Jordan

"The tribunal valuation clearly doesn't reflect the transfer market. Their reasoning was that their previous highest valuation was £400,000 for Jermain Defoe seven years ago so, in terms of inflation, this is a decent fee.

"Well football doesn't run like inflation does it? The market now is 10-fold or 20-fold of what it was then.

"What this does is send out a message that academies and youth development policies are not worth investing in because perceived bigger clubs can come along at any time and do what the hell they like.

"It really is making me consider my position in football because the one thing that kept me focused in my time at Palace is producing my own players - but what's the point?"