Newcastle United’s defence clearly needs some work.
Indeed, Eddie Howe alluded to that very fact upon the culmination of last season, suggesting that was Newcastle’s biggest issue.
There was an alarming drop-off in standards on that front last time out. Howe’s side conceded 29 more goals than they did during the 2022-23 campaign, which perhaps explains why work is being done there.
Lloyd Kelly has already arrived on a free transfer of course to boost numbers in the squad, while the club continue to work on the signing of AC Milan star Malick Thiaw.
They do also have two players set for a return from injury at some point.
Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman will be back after long-term injuries, albeit their respective return dates are still unclear.
Still, Botman in particular is said to be ahead of schedule on his return and has recently delighted some of his teammates with a social media post.
Tino Livramento and Nick Pope buzzing with Sven Botman’s injury update
The Dutchman took to Instagram to post a video of himself working in the gym, as well as with ball out on a training pitch. Botman captioned the clip “Turning setbacks into comebacks.”
Such is his importance amongst his teammates, both Tino Livramento and Nick Pope were seemingly huge fans of the post.
Livramento commented with two fire emojis, while Pope added the message “Broski” with a fire emoji.
Sven Botman ignored Newcastle’s advice
It’s going to be fascinating to see in what shape Botman returns.
He suffered a serious knee injury last season but eventually came back, having ignored advice to undergo surgery on the initial problem.
That always felt like a risk and, sadly, it did not work.
So good during his first season, Botman needs to get back to those levels in order to show he’s not impacted his career by refusing to go under the knife in the first place.
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