John Bostock seems to have failed to land a deal to remain with the San Jose Earthquakes after being on trial with the club for recent weeks. That would normally not be of interest to Toronto FC fans but for the fact that at least one source is reporting that San Jose's lose might end up being Toronto's gain as the attacking midfielder's next stop could be BMO Field.

A #SJEarthquakes club source confirmed that they will not be signing John Bostock, & that he may be headed to Toronto for trial. #tfc — Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) February 25, 2013

Bostock is a 21 year old attacking midfielder and has been property of Tottenham Hotspur since 2008 when the player forced his way out of Crystal Palace through a tribunal. His departure left a bad taste in the mouths of those at Palace who had seen Bostock break into the team as a 15 year old making him the youngest player to ever play for the club and the youngest player to ever start for the club.

His move to Tottenham has never really worked out though as since completing his transfer in the spring of 2008 all he has done is go out on a series of loans to clubs in the lower leagues. In the past four years he has spent time at Brentford, Hull City, Sheffield Wednesday, and Swindon Town.

It is nothing new to see a young player going on a series of loans to lower division clubs to try and prepare him to eventually break into the first team with the club that owns his rights but the worrying part with Bostock is that he has not really done much to impress on his series of loans. Since moving to Tottenham he has only made four appearances for the club and 42 in total scoring just 4 goals during that time.

His appearances from Tottenham have all come outside of league play as he made three UEFA Cup games in 2008-2009 and then a single appearance in the FA Cup in 2012. His first appearance in Europe came as a 16 year old and made him the youngest player to ever play for Spurs beating out the previous record by just six days.

When Bostock was 16 it looked like he was going to be the next big thing for England. Captain of the U17 side, youngest ever player at Crystal Palace and Spurs, and ready to make his big break through into the Premier League. It has not gone that way though as he has yet to make an appearance in the Premier League and is no where near getting his first cap for England five years later.

The good news is that despite the last five years seeing him fall off a bit in his development he is still only 21 years of age and has the chance to turn into a solid professional even if he never becomes the star that Spurs would have been hoping for when they fought to sign him from Palace.

His last loan with Swindon Town came to an end when Tottenham recalled Bostock at the start of January feeling that he was not getting enough playing time with the club. That led to the player joining San Jose in camp and featuring in a number of their preseason games in hopes of finding his next loan deal. Bringing him to San Jose would have made him the natural replacement for Simon Dawkins who the clubs also loaned from Spurs but it seems that this time around it is not going to work out.

Failing to land a move to San Jose seems to have opened the door for him to join up with Toronto FC. Bringing him in on trial is a move that makes sense for Toronto as they are in need of attacking options and he could help to at least address that concern without eating up cap space in the long term. Bringing him on a loan could help the team in 2013 but does not tie up any of the cap flexibility that will be needed to improve long term come the end of the season.

The big question will be just why things did not work out for him with San Jose. If it was a matter of him not having the quality to add to their squad that would not be the best sign but then again TFC is currently at a much lower standard and beggars can't be choosers. If it was a matter of finances it is a safe bet that TFC has a lot more spending power at this stage that SJE do as they are near the cap and also investing in a new stadium so they really do not have money to throw around should Spurs require the loan club to pay a major portion of the players salary.

Bringing in Bostock seems like a long shot in hopes that he can get his career back on track but taking a free look at a player who was once so highly regarded is never a bad thing. If he impresses and a loan can be agree than it could work out well for Toronto as their hands would not be tied by the player long term.

What are your thoughts on the idea of bringing Bostock in for a trial and possibly a loan deal?