Newcastle’s latest news on Sven Botman could make a move for £75m defender even more likely

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Newcastle United’s latest injury to Sven Botman could make them move quicker to secure one of their summer targets.

Botman could now be out for up to nine months with an ACL injury which he first injured in September against Sheffield United but opted not to have surgery and played on.

Now, having injured it again in the FA Cup tie against Man City, Newcastle will be without the Dutch defender potentially until 2025, meaning they may have to adapt their summer plans.

Botman news could spur Newcastle on to make huge signing

Newcastle have already been on the lookout for a new defender with Fabian Schar turning 32 this year, and now the Botman injury could make that even more of a priority.

In the last few months, Newcastle have been linked with Everton star Jarrad Branthwaite who has just received his first England call-up last Thursday and is being scouted by a number of big clubs.

It’s believed that the defender could cost around £75m, though with Everton’s financial troubles there may be room to negotiate that, and especially so if they suffer relegation from the Premier League.

At just 21-years-old Branthwaite has already established himself as a top defender with bags of potential who could prove to be a long-term option for Newcastle, though it’s understood that both Man United and Real Madrid could provide some competition for his signing.

Newcastle must not panic this summer

In some ways it is a little bit fortunate that Newcastle aren’t still in three competitions following Botman’s injury as well as a handful of others who are either still injured or recently picked up knocks.

It means that rather than try and play through the injuries because of the importance of the games, they can solely focus on their recovery while Eddie Howe continues to fight for Europe in the league.

What Newcastle shouldn’t be doing, however, is panicking about losing Botman for up to nine months and going out and buying the first defender they can find who’s available.

Like in their previous signings which have proved to be very successful, Newcastle must be patient and identify the perfect candidate to bring in this summer.