By Ollie Irish
Looks like Steven Pienaar is on his way to Tottenham. Or Chelsea. Either way, he’s on his way to the English capital. This from Everton’s official website:
“Everton can confirm they have agreed terms with Tottenham over the possible transfer of Steven Pienaar.
“Confirmation of the agreement with the north London club comes just days after a bid for the South African international was accepted from Chelsea.
“Pienaar, who is out of contract with Everton in the summer, has been given permission to discuss his personal terms over a possible move away from Goodison Park.
“He was not included in Everton’s squad for the weekend draw with Liverpool following confirmation of a bid being accepted from Chelsea.
“Pienaar joined Everton from Borussia Dortmund in 2007, initially on loan, before making the move permanent a year later for a fee just over £2m.
“His current contract expires in the summer and a new deal from Everton has been on the table since early in 2010.”
Chelsea’s bid is reported to be £3m, which seems awfully low for a player of Pienaar’s calibre. But then the South African doesn’t want to stay at Everton, clearly, and so the Toffees must take what they can for a player whose heart has not been in it this season. It must be very disappointing for Everton fans, as Pienaar was one of the club’s star players in the past couple of campaigns.
But as Tim Howard says, no player is bigger than Everton, and Pienaar will be replaced. T-Ho said: “Steven has been our engine for the last couple of years. There is no hiding from that. He has been our star player.
“But my feeling, having been at this club for so long, is that we just get on with it. We don’t dwell on things.
“The gaffer David Moyes is really shrewd. He found Mikel Arteta, Tim Cahill and Steven Pienaar. There will be another. That’s just the way it is here at Everton.”