The u-turn that was hinted at yesterday looks to be almost complete as reports claim that Everton have accepted an offer from Spurs for their midfielder Steven Pienaar. Last week, Chelsea tabled a bid of £3m which was accepted by the Toffees and it would now appear that Tottenham, who had initially made an offer that fell short of Chelsea’s bid, have matched the asking price.
With two matching offers on the table, this morning’s Independent states that Spurs are in pole position, as Chelsea are not willing to meet the player’s wage demands. Not so long ago it would seem unlikely that any player would choose to join Tottenham ahead of Chelsea, but it seems that their days of being able to financially out-muscle the rest of the Premier League are over.
Pienaar joined Everton from Borussia Dortmund and quickly became a fans favourite. He has Champions League experience and played alongside Rafael van der Vaart at Ajax. He will be out of contract in the summer and with Everton continuing to under achieve, it seems time for him to move on.
Quite where he will slot in to the Spurs midfield is open to question but if he does arrive, it is likely to spark a clear out of some of our fringe players.
Really looking forward to the impact this fella can have on a game. Hopefully he signs asap. He would have been useful to bring on against united for the last 20 mins. Please get him, Carroll and Suarez in Harry. We need all 3 in my opinion. I’d sell Pav, Gio, Bentley, Keane and even Corluka is we needed to. Come on Harry/Levy buy us silverware this year!!!
Good for two-bob opposition at home, when we don’t need a defensive midfielder.
Lets be clear about one thing. Pienaar could’nt give a rats arse about who he plays for, it’s all about the money.
Seriously what player would pick Spurs over Chelsea if it was’nt about the pay packet.
On another note if this sale goes through will Kranjcar be on his way? Interesting when you consider he is 2 years younger & better than Pienaar!
Mate… are you serious??? When Chelsea were signing players left, right and centre, every player they signed was accused of going there for the money… now someone’s turned them down that’s for the money as well..
Let’s say you’re right… it doesn’t even matter. If you had 2 companies after you and one offered a lot more you would choose them… just because you didn’t love them in the first place, it doesn’t mean you won’t work your bolox off when you get there.
You’re making an assumption based on paper reports that talks broke down between Pienaar and Chelsea due to wage demands, but:
a) We have no quotes to back up any of it
b) The breakdown maybe due to other reasons
c) We have no idea / confirmation that Chelsea are actually out of the running.
I would be surprised if we were all of a sudden in a position to financially outmuscle Chelsea – as not much as changed to put us ahead of them in money terms???
“Come on Harry/Levy buy us silverware this year!!!”
Need I say anymore?
Just one word to Harry leave him to Chelsea i live down the North West and on present form Charlie Adams is worth 20 Million or More Why ?the answer is a blood test away not a piss tests.
You may pick Spurs over Chelsea for other reasons – why did J Cole pick Liverpool over Chelsea? I am sure the money was similar. Why did Bale pick Spurs over Man U? (as we have recently found out). Chelsea play a 3-man midfield, which means that Pienaar would have to oust the lieks of Lampard and Essien to get a game! Spurs play a four-man, and he can slot in across it. He simply has more chance of playing. It is not always about money. He is 28, and at Everton he is not likely to get CL football there. He may not at Spurs either, but at least there is a chance of playing at a higher stage before he retires.
We don’t need silverware this year. We need to consolidate our position in top 4/5 and put good showing in CL (done that already), then move toward new stadium – where most money should be directed.
Wholeheartedly agree with everything there TonyRich… well put.
Richard EFC – you’re living in a fantasy land if you believe that any team can achieve success in the Premiership without signficant investment. You should see that with your own team. Everton did qualify 4th one season yes, but were embarassed in the CL in the next, due to next to no investment.
Yes even Man United and Arsenal have done it in the past – whether is be via buying new players, a new stadium, or improving facilities / business practices – it all still takes money!
“Everton did qualify 4th one season yes, but were embarassed in the CL in the next….”
Not strictly accurate. Everton were very unlucky…
1. To draw Villarreal (won the group where ManU came bottom and got to the semi-final).
2. To lose to Villarreal (Guardian report…. “the Merseysiders denied extra-time by Pierluigi Collina’s baffling decision to disallow Duncan Ferguson’s late header for an apparent infringement.
Ferguson appeared innocent of committing any foul, Gonzalo Rodriguez having crumpled to the turf under a vague challenge from Marcus Bent as Mikel Arteta’s corner had veered into the area.”)
So hardly embarrassed.
PS If you’d have said they were embarrassed in the UEFA Cup you’d have been spot on!
My point was that they were embarassed by crashing out in the qualifying stages and not having a semblance of a campaign, which may have been avoided by significant investment (although I know it’s no guarantee).
Vilarreal drew twice with Man United in the group stages and defeated Benfica and Lille. They eventually lost to Arsenal. The gap in quality is apparent there for teams who finished only 1 and 2 places above Everton.
Chelsea offered Joe Cole 60k, Liverpool offered £90k, Spurs offered somewhere in between.
Pienaar will end up being a squad player which every team he goes to. If he wanted to get regular football he’d stay where he is.
This move is all about agents and bank accounts, which I don’t really have a problem with.
but it seems that their days of being able to financially out-muscle the rest of the Premier League are over?. i’m sure RA is still a rich man, maybe chelsea are not prepared to be mugged by pienaar. anyone have any ideas what he’s earning at Everton
more on this subject ………http://www.sportingo.com/football/a17784_chelseas-pienaar-move-part-ploy-snare-tottenham-star
F@cking sort it out rednapp n levy! Buy suarez and let him smash in the goals. The problem is vdv, he is quality yes but harry is changing the team for him,451, and basing our transfer policy around him by looking for a lone striker but we play better 442. If we miss out on suarez and he goes to the scrubber bindippers i will blow my gasket, its plain thickness that we dont go for him.
bale won’t play every week we need cover for him and lennon
also i understand he’s very good in defence other thing want to add is south African connection this good news for that market we have big following in that part of the world
Elliot – strange you have those figures. I heard that Cole was on more than that. So it shows that no one knows. Pienaar is not moving for money. He is an international, with an opportunity to play at a higher level before he retires. Just because he refuses to sign a contract does not necessarily means that he is going for money. It means that he becomes more attractive to buy. Spurs and Chelsea would never try to sign him from Everton, because they would have slapped a 12m price tag on him. Look at Carroll. Yes it is manipulating, but that is the life of a footballer. If you don’t do it, the club does it to you.
I think it is ungracious to accuse Pienaar of choosing Spurs over Chelsea for the money. He has been a good player at Everton, he cost us 2.5 mill we had good service from him for 3 years and sell him for the same or maybe even a little higher, good business. Why would he choose Spurs over Chelsea. Both are in the Champions League but Spurs are on the way up, with a team which is still forming, Chelsea are in decline and the new team they build will have more changes over the next 6-8 months possibly at managerial level. Peanuts (as he’s been affectionately known) would I believe choose Spurs because he has a good chance of forcing his way into the 1st team regularly, he doesn’t want to repeat his German experience where he spent most of his time on the bench which is where he would be at Chelsea, ask Joe Cole and SWP. I hope it works out for him. Good luck Peanuts.
You guys have got an absolute bargain here. Im not convinced its just money to be honest, its certainly a big part of it. I think Peanuts sees you guys surpassing Chelsea and more likely to win stuff. Good luck to him, hes been an amazing work horse (though thats about it, he’s not quite as good as everyone thinks he is) and made a fantastic partnership with Baines, still a bargain buy. Dont really like the way Redknapp handled it, im not just being bitter, but thats football i suppose…. Good luck to you all.
Fair play Matt,all the best for the rest of the season