Royston Drenthe had barely touched down on Merseyside when his phone rang. It was late August 2011, and the former Dutch winger, a loan arrival from Real Madrid, was about to embark on a turbulent season at Everton - a subject in which few were better versed than the man on the other end of the line.
'This is Andy van der Meyde, I got your number from Johnny Heitinga,' chirped Drenthe's compatriot, who had left Goodison Park two summers earlier after four controversial years during which he rarely pulled on a blue shirt.