Alan Shearer excited as Newcastle United set to welcome back £35m star in January
Alan Shearer has tipped Sven Botman to make a big impact when he returns from injury.
Newcastle United have been without Botman and fellow centre-back Jamaal Lascelles since March after they both suffered an ACL injury. The Dutchman’s 2023-24 campaign was blighted by not just one but two serious knee problems.
The 24-year-old sustained a partial ACL tear in September but opted against surgery so he could resume playing in December. However, the former Lille man, who joined in 2022 for £35million, struggled to hit top form, which eventually resulted in an operation three months later.
Providing an update on Botman and Lascelles’ recovery last week, head coach Eddie Howe said: “They're on different spells of their recovery. Jamaal will be some time after Sven.
“Sven is making good progress and we hope that he can begin light training with us within the next few weeks but there's still a jump from training to playing so we still need to be patient with him again.
“If we see him before the end of the year that would be a bonus but we're probably looking at more January for him.”
And when Botman returns, Shearer has backed him to rediscover his form that previously put him on par with Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak’s world-class standing within the squad.
Shearer told the Rest is Football podcast: “They look pretty mean again at the back. There has been no respite hardly for him [Dan Burn] and Fabian Schar because of the injuries to Botman and Lascelles.
“Particularly Botman because he is a big player. He is the one that if he gets a run in the team, he is not far away, I think he is near full training, so he may be another month or five, six weeks away.
“But if he can get a run in the team, he is the one that the big boys would be looking at. When you talk about Newcastle and PSR, and Bruno or Isak or whatever, he is another one. If he can get a run in the team, Botman, he could be a really big player.”