The Merseyside club announced tonight they had given the 28-year-old permission to speak to Spurs, who had an initial offer turned down last week.

Pienaar, who is out of contract at the end of the season, would now seem to have a choice between Spurs and London rivals Chelsea, who have already had a bid accepted by Everton.

Pienaar did not play in yesterday's Merseyside derby at Liverpool having told manager David Moyes he was not in the right frame of mind.

Pienaar joined Everton on loan from Borussia Dortmund in 2007 and the move was made permanent the following year for £2million.

He has since been one of the team's main creative forces and was last year named as their player of the season.

Even then, however, it was apparent that talks over a new contract were proving problematic.

Key players such as Tim Cahill, Leighton Baines, Jack Rodwell, Seamus Coleman and Mikel Arteta all agreed new terms but the offer to Pienaar remained unsigned.

Spurs have led the chase for his services for some time and had considered approaching him with a pre-contract deal that would have seen him join them at the end of the season.

But Chelsea's bid threw a spanner in the works, with the Barclays Premier League champions keen to bolster a squad that failed to cope with injuries to Frank Lampard and Michael Essien earlier this season.

Tottenham actually have an embarrassment of riches in central midfield, having handled their own injury problems well, but Pienaar's all-action approach might give them something different.

It may also convince Redknapp to sell Niko Kranjcar, who has fallen down the pecking order at White Hart Lane and has previously expressed a desire for first-team football.

Redknapp hinted after his side's goalless Premier League draw with Manchester United yesterday that Spurs were unlikely to match Chelsea's bid.

"If they've accepted an offer from Chelsea, £3million, I don't know if we would be prepared to match that offer, I doubt it very much," he said.

"I'd think if Chelsea are coming in, the wages they would pay would be far in excess of what we would pay."

Pienaar's potential sale might give Moyes some flexibility to bring in new signings.

Moyes was restricted to free transfers last summer and has repeatedly said he must concentrate on the loan market during this month's window due to a lack of funds.

A loan fee was also received from Leicester last week for striker Ayegbeni Yakubu.