Pienaar: Baines is vital to Everton

Lyndon Lloyd , 4 August, 10comments | Jump to most recent

Speaking at his first full press conference since returning to Everton on a full-time contract, Steven Pienaar expressed his hopes that the Club can keep hold of Leighton Baines this summer.

Though the Blues still have not had any official approach for the England international, no Evertonian is going to be comfortable until the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

And Pienaar echoed those feelings when he described how pivotal Baines is to the team.

"It's not up to me," the South African said. "It's up to the club to keep their best players but hopefully he'll stay and so will the rest of the guys. It will be important for the team.

"We had a good understanding in the last couple of seasons so, if he stays, it will just make everyone happy as well because we know how important he is to the entire team.

"He can score goals from set pieces and it's not just me who benefits from playing alongside him. He's a vital player for the club — everyone knows it from the manager to the supporters. Let's hope and see if we can hold on to him."

Should Baines receive an approach from Old Trafford, though, Pienaar wouldn't blame him if he chose to move at what is the peak of Baines' career.

"Leighton texted me a few weeks ago asking me what was happening with me but I didn't ask him about his future. I know he's had some great seasons at the club and, if he does get the opportunity to move, I think everyone will respect it.

But for the club it's important to keep your best players and we all want him to stay and he knows it. It's not in our hands, though."

Regarding his own decision to come back to Goodison after his loan spell from Tottenham expired in June, Pienaar explained that he had no doubts about where he wanted to play his football and he received David Moyes's assurances that he'd do everything in his power to make it happen.

"I told the manager at the end of last season that I would come back if I had the opportunity and he promised me he would do whatever it takes to make it happen."

And now that he's back, Pienaar is looking for great things from promising youngster, Ross Barkley.

"There's some good young players coming through and I really want to see more of Ross this season because I see him every day in training and you can see he's a special, special player," Pienaar said.

"Hopefully he'll get his chance this season and help the team push [on] because sometimes you need some fresh legs in the team and he's got that energy to help us.

"I just like the way he plays. I wouldn't say he's a typical English player. He's got a lot of flair and uses both feet so you don't find that kind of player so easily.

"He's still young and he's got a physique as well and maybe he can help the team push on."

Quotes or other material sourced from The Guardian

Reader Comments (10)

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

Pablo Connelly
1 Posted 04/08/2012 at 08:02:56

The ironic thing is it wasn't too long ago Baines was making the same noises about Pienaar. It could be all speculation anyway as we all know most of the written media's 'sources' are established in the author's head.

My worry is that whisky face has learned from the Arteta move. If Wenger had bid £10 million at the start of August, I think the club would have declined hoping for more money. As it was coming on the last day there was no time to negotiate and we had to respect Mikel's wishes. If the another last-minute bid comes in are we in a position to say no? I am not sure. This would screw us over again though with no time to buy a replacement.

On Barkley, we haven't heard senior players talk about a young player like this since Rooney. Have we got this lad tied down? You never know he might just be the 15 million pound signing we can't afford. I think this proves again the one (if only one) bragging right we have over the Shite. Our youth system for young Merseyside-based players pisses all over theirs!

Phil Sammon
2 Posted 04/08/2012 at 09:10:48

It's great to hear such a technically gifted player giving Barkley praise like that. Let's hope he can step up and do it for the first team

John House
3 Posted 04/08/2012 at 10:59:58

Well that doesn't sound overly positive to me. That just shows there is a real chance Baines may leave, and the players think its likely to happen too. If Baines didn't want to leave why would Pienaar be speaking like that? Wouldn't he just say he's not interested in a move and he's staying at the club. Maybe I'm just paranoid.

Steve Jones
4 Posted 04/08/2012 at 13:12:25

I read that another way John...if Bainesy was interested in a move why would he look to Pienaars situation at all?. He's got options that much is clear...if he's asking Pienaar what he's doing then he's looking for reasons to stay with the club.

Jem Traynor
5 Posted 04/08/2012 at 13:51:35

I don't see Baines leaving Everton, not a sentiment echoed by all but I think he loves EFC and not all footballer's are about the money.

There is also a paragon in Steven Penaar's case in how he has now ended up back with EFC making it obvious that football is very important to these player's and a great player like Baines should want to stay and enjoy what he has, playing with the team, manager and fans who he knows appreciate him.

Seamus Murphy
6 Posted 04/08/2012 at 16:27:43

It seems the only club talking about Baines leaving Everton are Everton. If I'm not mistaken it was the Everton tv interviewer who asked him about the possibility of Baines leaving. I don't get it. He had no need to phrase the question in that way. Why could he not just have asked him if he was looking forward to reforming his partnership with Baines on the left flank or something along those lines? The fans are the same on various websites. Why are we intent on talking a Baines move up? The sooner this fucking window closes the better. Just a pity it reopens in Jan.

Lyndon Lloyd
7 Posted 04/08/2012 at 18:08:05

On the other hand, Seamus, the latest evertontv interview with Baines himself didn't broach the topic of him leaving or the rumours around his future at all. I was bracing for it but the question never came which I thought was refreshing.

Si Cooper
8 Posted 04/08/2012 at 21:05:55

I would assume that a sizeable offer would be looked at by the club if, in this case at least, it was large enough to allow a replacement to be brought in as well as banking some of the fee. That appears to be where we are at right now. I would hope everyone at the club can see that letting such a pivotal player go with no obvious understudy at the club would be disastrous for the coming season.

From what has been written on previous threads, some people may have assumed that Pienaar would not have come back unless he was convinced Bainesy was staying; it looks like he has got his fingers crossed just like the rest of us.

Dennis Stevens
9 Posted 04/08/2012 at 21:36:11

I'm sure there are clubs who'd be interested in Baines, but if they already have a decent left-back I doubt anybody would rush to make a large enough bid to tempt Everton to sell. My concern is whether Everton can afford a summer without a big sale.

Eric Myles
10 Posted 05/08/2012 at 02:13:27

As the accounts will have already been prepared, Dennis, we'll find out soon enough but according to one of our accountant members we have £24 million in debt falling due this year which needs repaying, or refinancing.

Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

» Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.

About these ads