Newcastle United are currently without Sven Botman due to injury, but the defender has just provided fans with a very interesting update on his recovery.
The 24-year-old is out of action with a knee injury, and has not played for Newcastle United since March.
The 2023/24 campaign was an extremely difficult one for Sven Botman, with two serious knee problems forcing him to miss 29 games in all competitions. And even when he recovered from the first, he never truly got back to his best.
Botman broke down again during the FA Cup quarter final defeat to Manchester City, and has since undergone surgery to rectify the problem.
When the Dutchman first went under the knife, there were fears that he could be out for the rest of 2024. However, there were recently reports that Botman is ahead of schedule as he works towards his comeback.
While the club will know exactly when Botman could be available again, that remains a mystery to Toon fans.
However, supporters have been given an exciting update from the defender, with Botman delivering a message via his official Instagram account from the Newcastle United training ground.
On his Instagram story, Botman shared a picture from the training ground alongside the caption: “Getting closer, back at it.”
While Botman’s words are still fairly ambiguous, at least he is getting closer to a return to fitness. Then again, it would be very concerning if he had suffered a setback and was suddenly further away…
The update comes less than a week after Botman shared a video of him working in the gym and then on the grass with a ball at his feet. It looks like he is making great progress, and it will be interesting to find out how far away he is from training with his teammates again.
Newcastle are searching for Botman’s new partner
While Botman is out of action, Dan Burn will likely continue to operate at centre-back. He will compete with Lloyd Kelly, who joined Newcastle on a free transfer from Bournemouth this summer.
Long-term, Botman will be Newcastle’s left-sided centre-back, as long as he can get back to his best once he is over this injury problem.
But while Botman remains on the shelf, Toon officials are busy trying to identify who his partner will be in the coming years.
It is currently Fabian Schar, but Paul Mitchell is currently aiming to bring in his successor. Malick Thiaw is the leading candidate to arrive, while there was recently a claim that Joe Gomez nearly joined Newcastle.
That deal coincided with Anthony Gordon possibly going to Liverpool, but thankfully that transfer appears to be off the table for now.
There is hope that Newcastle are close to a transfer breakthrough, and Botman will be watching with interest as he waits to discover which centre-back the club are going to sign.
