It appears as though Andre Villas-Boas could be close to sanctioning one of his first outgoing transfers and funnily enough, it does not involve Luka Modric. Instead, various reports have indicated that Steven Pienaar is closing in on an exit from White Hart Lane, with Everton his likely destination.

It would be fair to say that Pienaar has hardly made the impact that many expected following his initial move from the Toffees in 2011. He has featured sparingly for the Spurs first team and after being farmed back on loan to Goodison Park in January, the writing has been on the wall for several months. Despite making such a poor impression at Tottenham, it is still understood that Daniel Levy is aiming to make as much profit as possible on the 30-year-old. After joining from Everton for £2.5m, Levy is aiming to net around £5m as the South African prepares to return to the Toffees permanently.

It has been a well-known fact that David Moyes has been chasing Pienaar all summer yet his most recent comments suggest that a deal is on the near horizon. Speaking at the weekend, Moyes said, “I think we are much closer to Pienaar and hopefully in time I will have something, but I don’t quite have it yet.”

However, while Moyes claimed that a deal was not in place at the weekend, the Toffees have reportedly improved their terms for Pienaar. Having sold Tim Cahill in a shock £1m deal to New York Red Bulls on Tuesday, the Toffees have a slightly bigger transfer kitty and this is understood to be aiding them in their pursuit of the Spurs midfielder. Should they fail in their bid to seal a return for the player, other speculation has linked Sunderland with a potential transfer for him.

With Pienaar and Luka Modric now widely tipped to exit White Hart Lane, it would appear likely for Villas-Boas to look at more midfielders for the forthcoming campaign.