PREM bad boy Andy van der Meyde admits he lies awake at night thinking what could have been – after off-field scandals ended his career aged just 31.
The ex-Everton midfielder saw his marriage fall apart after a private investigator found him in bed with a stripper.
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Van Der Meyde battled depression, drink, drugs and sex addiction during his 12-year career.
He arrived at Goodison Park from Inter Milan in 2005 for a fee of £2million.
The now 45-year-old struggled for game time on Merseyside, despite arriving with a strong reputation.
Van Der Meyde had been compared to Portuguese wing wizard Luis Figo during his breakthrough years at Ajax.
But away from the field, the Dutchman was living the life of a playboy footballer to the extreme.
Van Der Meyde admitted in 2012 that he “had a strong longing for naked women.”
It led him down a dark path – and would ultimately cost him his marriage to wife Diane.
Recalling an incident in 2006, the Dutchman told SunSport: “I bought a Ferrari and the first stop was the Newz Bar, a popular place in Liverpool.
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“After a couple of hours of drinking alcohol, I drove to the nearest strip club.
“Getting drunk in a strip club in the middle of Liverpool was not very smart. But I had a strong longing for naked women.
“I saw a brunette and I wanted to have sex with her. But after I’d had sex with [the stripper] Lisa once I was addicted. She was wild, crazy and horny.”
Van Der Meyde’s destructive streak led him to play away regularly, prompting wife Diane into drastic measures.
He later revealed: “I said to my ex-wife that I wanted to go to a hotel because I was injured at the time and I needed some rest.
“But that was not the case – I was just cheating on her.
“A private detective had videos and photos of me and my new girlfriend and then my wife rang me and said ‘How’s your new girlfriend?’
“I was still denying it then.”
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Van Der Meyde’s off-field issues began in Milan, before his big-money move to the Premier League in 2005.
He told the BBC: “I went out and drank and I wasn’t thinking about football.
“I was depressed, I wasn’t playing anymore. I was also checking the odds and betting frequently.”
In August 2007, Everton fined the Dutchman £50,000 after he failed to turn up to training.
Van Der Meyde’s career in numbers
Clubs
- Ajax (1997-2003)
- Twente (loan 2000-01)
- Inter Milan (2003-2005)
- Everton (2005-2009)
- PSV Eindhoven (2010)
- WKE (2011-12)
- Netherlands (17 caps)
Honours
Ajax
- Eredivisie 1997-98, 2001-02
- KNVB Cup 1997–98, 1998–99, 2001–02
Inter Milan
Van Der Meyde developed an addiction to prescription drugs as he struggled to cope with his daughter becoming seriously ill.
He continued: “Because of the constant fighting with Lisa, the illness of my daughter and the b******t at the club I developed sleeping problems.
“I was going through lots of bottles of wine and Bacardi and because I never got tired I started taking sleeping pills to get my night’s rest.
“Soon I couldn’t sleep without popping a pill — I was addicted. The pills were pretty heavy, the kind you only get with a doctor’s prescription.
“So I stole them from the office of the club doctor and no one noticed – for more than two years I stole those pills.”
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The Dutch ace would be frozen out on Merseyside for the next year, before returning to Holland for unsuccessful spells with PSV Eindhoven and WKE.
Van Der Meyde hung up his boots in 2012 at the age of just 31.
He linked up with boyhood club Ajax to get his coaching badges, but has admitted he threw away his talent on the field.
In recent years, the forgotten Prem star has carved out a career as a YouTuber and even has his own clothing line.
But he can’t help but wonder what might have been, adding: “I was an idiot and sometimes I lie in bed and think about it, ‘Wow man, come on Andy you were a good player’.
“At one moment I was second behind Luis Figo as the best winger in Europe and sometimes I think I wasted it.
“That is a lesson and now I want to help other players and help them not make the same mistakes I did.”