Pienaar to join Pirates’ ship?

SHOULD Orlando Pirates be keen on acquiring the services of Steven Pienaar leading up to the new season, the veteran midfielder said this is one offer he would gladly accept following his return to South Africa.

And that’s because Schillo, as Pienaar is affectionately known, grew up supporting the Black and White.

Now 35, Pienaar revealed that he was back in the country for good, after what turned out to be a disastrous final season in English topflight football, as Sunderland, a club which he joined on a one-year contract as a free agent from Everton, got relegated at the end of the 2016/17 season.

Pienaar admitted that it was a very bitter pill to swallow as this was the first time he had experienced being relegated.

However, the veteran midfielder hinted that he wasn’t done with the beautiful game yet as and he would really love to return on the domestic front.

The Westbury-born midfielder added that the possibilities of that happening will all depend on such opportunities being made available to him by PSL sides who are interested in acquiring his services leading up to the new season.

“Only God knows where I’m going to play (next),” Pienaar said at his annual Steven Pienaar Community Cup yesterday in Westbury. “If He opens a door for me (to play for a specific team domestically) then I’ll walk straight into it.”

Asked if Pirates were a club to open such a door for him, and whether he would he walk right in, Schillo beamed and said: “We’ll see.”

Should that move not come to fruition though, Pienaar is most likely to sign with either Kaizer Chiefs or Cape Town City, sides which have shown great interest on acquiring his signature leading up to the new season.

The fact that The Citizens appointed Benni McCarthy as their new coach might give them an extra advantage, as both Pienaar and McCarthy have been very close, since long before Schillo became a professional footballer.