STEVEN PIENAAR has put talks over his Everton future on hold until after the World Cup.

The Goodison outfit opened negotiations with Pienaar over a new contract earlier this year with the player due to enter the final 12 months of his current deal.

But the failure to reach agreement has prompted speculation he could depart Everton this summer, with Bayern Munich, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Chelsea among a clutch of clubs closely monitoring developments.

Pienaar, who last week expressed his desire to stay at Goodison, has reiterated that view but admits it is “flattering” to be linked to “big clubs”.

And now David Moyes faces an anxious wait for the midfielder’s situation to be resolved with the 28-year-old now concentrating on helping host country South Africa in next month’s World Cup.

“I’ve made it clear before that I want to stay at Everton,” said Pienaar, who will lead his country out for the World Cup opener against Mexico on June 11.

“We will just have to wait and I made it clear to the manager also that we will talk after the World Cup.”

The decision represents a change of heart from the player, whose agent last month stated wanted his future sorted before the finals.

Pienaar added: “The rumours have been going on for a while, but it’s just stuff in the newspapers.

“To be honest, it is a bit distracting because I’m still an Everton player at the end of the day. I want to be more like a normal human being, walk about in town and I don’t want people to shout stuff at me like ‘you have to stay, you don’t have to do this’.

“It’s just a lot of rumours, but it is also flattering at the same time because it is big clubs.”