'Mentor' eyes Andy van der Meyde for Red Bull Salzburg

Jun 10 2008 by Nick Smith, Liverpool Daily Post

ANDY VAN DER MEYDE'S footballing mentor could be the man who finally lures him away from Everton this summer.

Co Adriaanse, coach of Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg, is ready to persuade the Dutchman to revive his career with another spell under his tutelage.

Adriaanse was in charge of the Ajax youth set-up that van der Meyde graduated from and he also made him a first-team regular when he became manager of the Amsterdam club in 2000.

The coach has taken over from new Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni this summer, and is considering incorporating the winger’s rehabilitation into his squad rebuilding.

Van der Meyde’s career had faltered badly since he joined Everton from Inter Milan in 2005 for £2million, so much so that the Goodison Park club are willing to let him go without recouping any of that fee. He has made only 21 appearances in three years and didn’t play at all last season as he struggled badly for fitness and a suffered a series of unfortunate off-field events.

The fact that his young daughter Dolce requires constant hospital attention for a serious bowel condition has led to him snubbing offers to move away from Merseyside.

But van der Meyde will be tempted to make a fresh start with Adriaanse, who was so influential in moulding the early potential that led to his move to Inter. The player is still only 28 and has one year left to run on his Everton contract.

One Dutch presence more likely to be seen on the Goodison Park pitch this summer, however, is PSV Eindhoven. The Dutch champions revealed a friendly fixture with Everton for Saturday, August 9, on their official website.

Everton have already confirmed friendlies against Cambridge United, Preston, Nottingham Forest as well as Colorado Rapids and Chicago Fire on their tour of the USA.

When final confirmation of the PSV game is through, it will be Everton’s only scheduled pre-season game at Goodison.