10 Most Expensive Transfer Flops In Everton History

To say Andy van der Meyde's Everton career is one of the least productive is an understatement, yet it was one of the most colourful, a scandal punctuated by booze, drugs and strip joint visits just days before matches.

The former Dutch international arrived in Merseyside from Italian giants Inter Milan in 2005 for an undisclosed fee that seriously inflated the club's wage bill, but he only ever made back-page headlines with his off-the-pitch antics.

During a four-year stint at Goodison, Van der Meyde played just 24 times and often clashed with David Moyes. If he wasn't being chastised for missing a training session, he was putting his liver through its paces at a Liverpool watering hole.

The winger's life in England was dogged by personal problems, so nobody was surprised to see him released on a free transfer when his contract expired in June 2009. The warning signs were there when he was sent off in his first Merseyside derby for a reckless tackle on Liverpool's Xabi Alonso.