Soccer:Steven Pienaar completed his move from Everton to Tottenham after signing a four-and-a-half year contract with the London club.

The 28-year-old midfielder passed a medical at Spurs’ Chigwell training ground before putting the finishing touches to his transfer for a fee believed to be between €3 million and €3.5 million.

Earlier confirming his destination on his Twitter account, Pienaar said: “To end speculation I am going to Spurs. I’ve had brilliant years at Everton and it will always be a special place in my heart.”

He later added: “I can also confirm I’ll be jersey number 40.”

Confirming the completion of the transfer on their official website, www.tottenhamhotspur.com, Spurs said in a statement: “We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement with Everton and Steven Pienaar for the player’s transfer to the club.”

Pienaar could make his debut in Saturday’s Premier League game at Newcastle providing his work permit comes through in time. Tottenham beat Chelsea to land Pienaar, who failed to agree personal terms with the champions.

That does not appear to be a problem with Spurs, who nevertheless risked missing out on the South Africa star by refusing to meet Everton’s asking price.

But the clubs came to an agreement last night, with some reports claiming Tottenham had matched Chelsea’s #3million bid for the player and others suggesting a compromise figure of around €3 million had been reached.

Once all the paperwork is complete, Pienaar will officially become the north Londoners’ second January signing, with international team-mate Bongani Kumalo having already penned a pre-contract agreement.

Everton decided to sell the influential playmaker, rather than lose him on a free transfer when his contract expired in the summer.

Spurs are thought to have been interested for some time and were considering offering a pre-contract deal for the end of the campaign, but Chelsea’s intervention forced them to enter the market.

Manager Harry Redknapp said over the weekend he was unsure whether Spurs could match the Blues’ offer.

Everton have disclosed no details of the bids but confirmed last night Pienaar had been given permission to discuss terms with Spurs as well as Chelsea.

Pienaar made his name at Ajax after joining them from their club partners Ajax Cape Town in January 2001.

The versatile midfielder enjoyed great success during his time in Amsterdam, helping Ajax to the Eredivisie championship in 2002 and 2004 and playing in the Champions League before making the move to the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund in 2006.

He joined Everton on loan from Dortmund in 2007 and the move was made permanent the following year for €2.5 million.

He became one of the club’s most influential figures and was named Player of the Year after an outstanding 2009-10 season. It became apparent then, however, that problems were arising over a new contract.

Pienaar failed to give firm assurances that he wanted to stay beyond the end of his deal and his name was conspicuous by its absence as a succession of players signed new contracts last year.

Tim Cahill, Leighton Baines, Seamus Coleman, Jack Rodwell and Mikel Arteta all committed themselves to Goodison Park but an offer to Pienaar remained unsigned.

His departure might at least give manager David Moyes some leverage to pursue a striker in the current transfer window, having repeatedly said he lacks funds and must look for value loans.

Spurs actually have an embarrassment of riches in central midfield but Pienaar’s all-action approach might give them something different.

It could mean that Niko Kranjcar moves on having fallen down the pecking order at White Hart Lane and previously expressed a desire for first-team football.