How does a player go from starting for an iconic side like Ajax to ringing his agent to tell him that football is the thing that will save his life?
Andy van der Meyde probably won’t be able to answer that exact question himself, but he’s just one of a number of footballers that have struggled to juggle the high life with bitter reality when things don’t go your way.
To better understand a man who was once of Europe’s hottest prospects, becoming familiar with the problems he faced off the field is a logical place to start - but one that will probably take some time.
In a career that included private detectives, alcohol abuse and a four-legged entourage coming with him to British shores, Van der Meyde’s struggles off the pitch become all
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