EVERTON HAVE bolstered their midfield by re-signing midfielder Steven Pienaar from Tottenham for €5.7 million on a four-year deal.

Pienaar left Goodison Park for Tottenham in January 2011 but failed to make an impression under their then-boss Harry Redknapp and spent the second half of last season back at Everton on loan.

It proved to be an inspired move, with Pienaar playing a key role as Everton finished seventh in the Premier League.

Neither he nor boss David Moyes made any secret of attempting to make the move a permanent one and Pienaar expressed his joy after the transfer was completed today.

He told evertontv: “I am happy to be here. It took a few weeks to sort out but I am delighted to be back and excited to play for Everton.

“There was no doubt in my mind that I would be back here. At the end of the season I told the manager how I felt and I am happy now it is all done.”

Pienaar had limited opportunities after moving to Tottenham for a reported fee of €3.8 million and he made just five Premier League starts in just over a year at White Hart Lane.

He took the opportunity to move back to Everton, whom he initially joined on loan from Bundesliga outfit Borussia Dortmund in 2007 before signing permanently 12 months later, in the January transfer window.

There he scored four goals in 14 Premier League games and admitted in May he wished to remain on Merseyside, while Moyes was equally intent on re-signing the 30-year-old.

“We are keen and I hope in time we would be able to conclude that deal,” the Scot said at the beginning of last month.

With Tottenham signing Hoffenheim’s Gylfi Sigurdsson, who was in excellent form for Swansea last season, competition for places would have been even more stiff in the north London club’s midfield.

But Tim Cahill’s surprise move to Major League Soccer side New York Red Bulls paved the way for a return to the Toffees for Pienaar, who has signed a deal until the end of the 2016 season.