Sven Botman has endured injury after injury at Newcastle United.
While undoubtedly a fine player for Newcastle United since joining from Lille, Botman has seen his progress derailed by knee problems.
Newcastle paid around £35million for Botman from Lille in the summer of 2022 and, when fit, he’s been a regular under Eddie Howe. Availability, however, has been an issue for the Dutchman.
Indeed, Botman suffered a serious knee injury in March 2024 and eventually underwent surgery later that month.
He briefly made a return earlier this season but Botman was forced to undergo another knee operation in March, albeit that time on the opposite leg.
Luckily, the 25-year-old returned to action on Saturday as Newcastle beat Ipswich 3-0.
Sven Botman’s message to Newcastle United fans after injury blows
Botman played the final few minutes of what was an important victory for the Toon, who reclaimed third spot in the Premier League as a result.
He replaced Fabian Schar to make his first appearance since February and his return comes at a crucial time.
Newcastle have effectively four cup finals to go as they bid to qualify for the Champions League and having the defender available is a major boost for the Newcastle United manager.
Taking to Instagram after the game, Botman captioned a collage of images: “Back outside again with the team and fans! BIG win yesterday— 4 finals, 1 mission. Locked in.”
Is Sven Botman fast?
Howe does not have a huge amount of pace in his backline.
As good as Schar, Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier are, there isn’t a lot of speed between them – relatively speaking in terms of Premier League footballers of course.
With that in mind, having a player of Botman’s profile back in action could be huge.
| Games | Games missed through injury |
| 72 | 59 |
Sean Longstaff described Botman as “lightning quick” and his recovery pace offers Howe a different kind of defender for the run-in.
Obviously, it remains to be seen how the defender returns from his latest injury but there were not all too many signs of an alarming dip in form upon his last comeback.
Easing him back into action seems the wisest move but just having that strength in depth is a major plus point.
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