Palace chairman hits out at Bostock fee

Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan isn’t a happy man after Football League tribunal decided that Spurs should pay an initial fee of £700k for Crystal Palace midfielder John Bostock.

Jordan said: “I feel mugged and brutalised – it is scandalous and this sends a message to smaller clubs.

“Why bother to bring players through if tribunals cannot reflect the work that has gone in?

“You get players like Aaron Ramsey, who has gone for £5million from Cardiff to Arsenal because that is the UK transfer market.

“The tribunal, in my view, are supposed to reflect the conditions of the transfer market place.

“And they came up with a figure of £700,000 for a player who has captained his country at under-17 level, who is perceived to be one of the best youngsters in the country and is being chased by Barcelona, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea.

“We had a £900,000 offer from Chelsea when he was 14 which we turned down. It’s beyond me and it makes me question why I bother with football.

“I have an academy who have produced a world-class footballer for someone else and got paid two-and-sixpence for it.”

The fee could rise to £1.25m for the 16-year-old.