Newcastle United may be in the midst of a bit of an injury crisis but fans have made a bold call about Sven Botman.
After the Tyne-Wear derby defeat saw Dan Burn suffer a fractured rib and punctured lung, Newcastle United are now down to four fit senior defenders.
Should Nordi Mukiele have been sent off for his challenge on Dan Burn?
The Toon defender suffered a broken rib and a punctured lung 😳
Burn could miss up to ten matches, which puts Eddie Howe in quite the predicament. The fact Sven Botman is still nowhere near fit has only worsened the situation.
And for the supporters, it’s the final straw in many ways, with a harsh but perhaps fair assessment of the Swedish defender’s place in the Newcastle squad.
Is it time to sell Sven Botman?
On the current injury situation, Howe said on Tuesday: “The back line is an issue for us. We don’t have many injuries but we have a concentrated group of players that all play in the same position. With Sven [Botman], we’re not entirely sure when he’ll return. He’s made good progress but he’s not ready to play yet.”
Responding to this update on Twitter/X, Newcastle fans made it clear that Botman’s fitness issues are making him a liability.
One said: “Botman must be moved on asap. He’s made of digestive biscuits.”
Another wrote: “Botman is useless. Get him sold and let’s replace him with someone that’s actually fit enough to do the job they’re paid to do.”
A third added: “Next time Botman’s fit and has a run of games under his belt, get rid.”
Clearly, the supporters are not suggesting Botman is a bad player. Quite the opposite, actually. They are just very, very frustrated that he’s not able to play and think it would be better to cash in.
On that, one fan replied: “We need to sell Botman and find a suitable replacement; he isn’t the same since injury.”
Elsewhere, Malick Thiaw was cited as an example of what the Magpies need, with one fan writing: “Time’s up for Botman for me, he’ll never ever be fit enough to be relied upon. If there’s a club in Europe interested then try and get £30m and find the next Thiaw.”
Others looked at Botman’s contract situation, and said: “Botman is a good centre back, but you can’t pay big contract renewal money on a guy that misses over half of the games. Sadly he has to be moved on.”
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Newcastle United should look at a loan deal in January
Whichever way you look at it, Newcastle are short on options in defence. Losing both Burn and Botman is a massive blow, and Eddie Howe would be wise to sign another defender in January.
Whether that’s a permanent, big-money deal or not is another matter, though. We know Howe wants a full-back and a midfielder in the New Year, so there is unlikely to be enough money to go for a top centre-half as well.
It may be that a loan deal is the best way to go in order to find solid defensive cover for the meantime, before splashing out next summer on properly replacing Botman.
An experienced Premier League player would be the ideal fit in that regard. Perhaps even revisiting the idea of Axel Disasi wouldn’t be the worst thing, but only if it’s for the short-term.
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