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Pienaar returned to the Toffees on a six-month loan just minutes before the January transfer deadline and has been a revelation for the club that he himself calls “home”.
It is hardly surprising then that manager David Moyes will seek to bring him back permanently, with a £2.5-million deal set to be tabled.
That is similar to the amount that Spurs paid for the 30-year-old in January 2011, though his time at White Hart Lane was a frustrating one, stunted by injury.
He will not be available for Everton’s FA Cup sixth round replay at Sunderland on Tuesday night as he is cup-tied, but put in a Man of the Match performance as the team won 2-0 at Swansea City on the weekend. That performance earned special praise from Moyes and Toffees left-back Leighton Baines.
“It’s been great to have him back,” Baines said. “It was a massive boost to the whole club when we signed him on loan. We knew what a good player he was when he left and we really missed him.
“Unfortunately he’s not available for the cup. But I suppose we have to be glad that we have him for our league games.”
Pienaar has started every game that he has been available for Everton, having played just a handful of minutes for Spurs in the Premier League this season before moving back to Merseyside.
