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Moyes to step up Pienaar chase

Image: Steven Pienaar: Is wanted by Everton boss David Moyes, who will now step up his efforts to sign the South African

Everton manager David Moyes has confirmed he intends to continue his efforts to bring Steven Pienaar back to Goodison Park on a permanent deal.

Scot to focus on bringing South African back to Goodison

Everton manager David Moyes has confirmed he intends to continue his efforts to bring Steven Pienaar back to Goodison Park on a permanent deal. The South Africa international returned to Merseyside in January on a six-month loan deal just a year after he quit the club to move to White Hart Lane. After a successful stay back at Goodison both parties are now keen to make the deal permanent, though the main sticking point appears to be Everton's ability to afford Spurs' £5million asking price. The departure of Harry Redknapp and subsequent arrival of Andre Villas-Boas also created some uncertainty with regards to incomings and outgoings at White Hart Lane. After wrapping up the signing of former Rangers striker Steven Naismith on a free transfer Moyes confirmed he will now switch his attentions towards Pienaar. "We are keen [on Pienaar] and I hope in time we would be able to conclude that deal," he said. "I don't know if the situation has changed [with Andre Villas-Boas coming in as new Spurs manager] but Steven has made it very clear he wants to come back here and my understanding is that hasn't changed.

Next job

"My next job in the coming weeks is to get Steven Pienaar here as well. "The season we qualified for the Champions League we had people in place early doors so if we could do that again then we would hope we could replicate what we have done before. "The Premier League has changed in the level of squads and the standard but we will try to start the season better than we have done." Moyes also confirmed that he had received no bids for any of his key players. With money tight at Goodison, there has been speculation the club may have to cash in on their major stars to raise transfer funds.
Good players
Full-back Leighton Baines and midfielder Marouane Fellaini are two players who have been linked with moves away but Moyes insists he has heard nothing. "I've heard nothing from nobody," he stressed. "We are always going to have interest in the players we have because we have good players but we don't sell easy here and we try to build a team. "Of course you are going to lose players now and again but we have kept the bulk of players and we will continue to try to add to it and keep improving."

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