Newcastle United forgotten man shares latest shots of his long-awaited return journey

It was one of the really sorry tales of last season, and underlined the need for change at Newcastle United. Sven Botman was a star in the heart of the Magpies’ defence, only for an issue with diagnosis of a knee issue, meant he played through the pain barrier in the Champions League at AC Milan for United.

That resulted in the player breaking down soon after in Premier League action, and being out of action. No operation was deemed to be required and then a steady recovery saw him return at the start of the year, only to break down again and go under the knife.

It was a saga that epitomised Eddie Howe’s season in 2023/24 - and probably had some hand in the club decision to install James Bunce as a performance director to oversee this kind of issue.

Botman, at present, is on course to return to action in December, even though may ITKs would have you believe it’ll be much earlier.

And in his latest posts to his Instagram, the Dutchman has shown the latest stages of his recovery, in the Benton training base gym.