• Spurs may go ahead with £2m deal or wait until
summer
• Everton must generate funds to make three loan signings
Tottenham Hotspur
have agreed a deal in
principle with Steven Pienaar, having beaten off competition from
Internazionale and Atlético Madrid with a contract worth £70,000 a
week over four years. It is unclear, however, whether they will pay
around £2m to Everton this month to push the transfer through
or wait until the summer when the South African midfielder would be
available as a Bosman free agent.
Everton would be reluctant sellers
during this transfer window but the manager, David
Moyes, has been told that he must generate funds for the three loan
signings he feels he needs to make, with the priority a
centre-forward. He will attempt to sign Monaco's Dieumerci Mbokani
having freed up the funds for a £1m loan fee by allowing Yakubu
Ayegbeni to join Leicester City. Yakubu will leave on loan with a
view to a transfer in the summer.
Pienaar's contract at Goodison Park expires at the end of the
season and he has ignored the club's offer of fresh terms of
£60,000 a week, which has been on the table since the end of the
previous campaign. When Everton subsequently agreed terms of
£75,000 a week with Mikel Arteta, Pienaar had hoped for parity but
such a proposal has not been forthcoming.
Moyes has said he would prefer to keep Pienaar for the remainder
of the season, reasoning that forfeiting a transfer fee would be
offset by the retention of a key player for the months ahead,
particularly as Pienaar has continued to give his all for the club.
Neither Moyes nor the Everton support has had reason to reproach
Pienaar for his professionalism.
The manager faces a difficult decision, though, because in spite
of recent flickers from Louis Saha and Jermaine Beckford, he
urgently needs a new striker. Everton have mustered only 23 goals
in 21 Premier League matches.
Harry Redknapp has tracked Pienaar for some time and although
the Tottenham manager would appear to be well stocked at left
midfield, where he has Gareth Bale, he knows that Pienaar can play
in a central role and would be a viable alternative to Aaron Lennon
on the right.
Redknapp's move for the 28-year-old ought not to be interpreted
as paving the way for Tottenham to cash in on Bale, who is a target
for virtually every top club in Europe after his excellent calendar
year of 2010. One aspect of Redknapp's philosophy is that you can
never have too many good players. He does see Bale developing in
the longer term into a left-back but he and the club have
repeatedly stressed that the Welshman is not for sale at any
price.
While Tottenham continue to hold talks over a loan move for
David Beckham, who trained with the
squad today, their
interest in Everton's club captain Phil Neville, is unlikely to
materialise into a transfer
despite Redknapp's desire to add the
33-year-old's wealth of experience to his
squad. The Everton
chairman, Bill Kenwright, rebuffed an inquiry from his Tottenham
counterpart, Daniel Levy, when the clubs met at Goodison last week
and Neville's club are unhappy the interest has resurfaced when, as
is the case with Pienaar, no offer has been made.
Moyes said: "I spoke with Harry Redknapp briefly before the
transfer window opened. Daniel Levy and Bill had an even briefer
conversation at our recent game against Spurs and mutually agreed
that this would go no further. At no time was any offer made – nor
would one have been welcomed. Phil Neville is our captain and is an
important part of the Everton set-up."
The Everton striker Victor Anichebe is expected to sign a new
three-year contract with the club this week. The Nigeria
international recently rejected an extension amid interest from
Cardiff City and Celtic, and Everton would not have been entitled
to a compensation fee at the end of this season had he moved to
Wales or Scotland on a free, but has now agreed terms to stay.