Pienaar is currently on-loan from Borussia Dortmund.
He told the Daily Mail: “I was close to signing for Manchester City but didn’t think I was ready physically. I’d just come back from a lot of injuries. I went to the Bundesliga to see if I could play in a competitive league.
“But it was hard because I came from Ajax. People expect a lot of you but after six years the football was totally different. I was always fighting with the players, I was more used to being involved with the ball.”
