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Eddie Howe believes Sven Botman can be like ‘a new signing’ for Newcastle United in 2025.
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Botman hasn’t featured for Newcastle since picking up a serious ACL injury in March 2024 that required surgery. The Dutch defender has been back in full training for over a month with only a recent illness hampering his return to action.
Botman played 60 minutes for Newcastle Under-21s last month as well as a further two training ground practice matches. The 24-year-old has been declared ‘available’ by Newcastle head coach Howe ahead of the trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday (12:30pm kick-off).
And with Newcastle set to be quiet in the transfer market Howe went on to admit the return of Botman would feel like a ‘new signing’ this month.
“It is a cliche but it's a good one,” Howe said. “It was the same with Sandro [Tonali] when he came back from his ban, although he'd been training with us and had been with us for a season, he was like a new signing.
“It gave the lads a big lift to have Sandy back available for selection and Sven will be exactly the same. He's been a massive player for us and a player the lads all like and like to play with, they have got total trust in him.
“So when he comes back into the group, it gives everyone a great feeling so [a new signing] is a good way of looking at it.”
Botman suffered an ACL injury early in the 2023-24 season but opted against surgery in an attempt to make a swift return to playing. He returned to playing after a few months but later suffered a second ACL injury that did require surgery.
“There was a period where of course he was disappointed because he was desperate to stay fit,” Howe added. “He had a lot to be fit for.
“He had the Euros coming up, it was a massive part of our season, so he was making every effort he could to stay fit and available for us in our pursuit of what we wanted to achieve that season, so it was a massive blow to lose him and I know how disappointed he was.
“But once the operation was agreed by all parties, I think he then quickly got his head around that. A long period of work - Sven is a very dedicated professional, he is very focused on his career.
“He wants to do well, so he's gone through a huge amount of work to get himself in the position that he is now and he looks good.
“He's been training for a period of time. Yes, he hasn't had the matchday experience with the team yet, but he's done everything else but that and I think he's physically in a very good place.”
Fabian Schar’s suspension and injuries to Jamaal Lascelles and Emil Krafth will see Botman compete with Lloyd Kelly for the centre-back position alongside Dan Burn in the upcoming matches. Botman, Kelly and Burn are all left-footed and prefer playing in the same left centre-back position - leaving Howe with a selection dilemma.
The Newcastle head coach admitted: "With our two right-sided centre-halfs being out, Fabian's suspension and Emil injured, it's going to be difficult to find a right-sided solution."