Newcastle United star spotted in Dubai after being ruled out for eight weeks

Newcastle United defender Sven Botman is currently enjoying some warm-weather training as he recovers from his latest knee injury.

Botman last featured for the Magpies in their 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg win over Arsenal on February 5. An initial assessment determined the problem to be minor before four weeks later - after he missed matches against Birmingham City, Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion - it was confirmed the Dutchman required surgery.

The 25-year-old’s operation was successful and he is now around a month into his recovery. And rather than do it all on Tyneside, Botman has jetted out to Dubai to use the facilities at the NAS Sports Complex.

The state-of-the-art venue has been used by Eddie Howe’s squad previously, while the likes of Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson have also gone there when recovering from their respective injuries last year.

Eddie Howe provides Sven Botman update

Providing an update on Botman last week, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said: “Sven's not too bad. He's had an operation, a very minor operation, just to clean out a bit of floating bone that was in his knee that was causing him the problem.

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“I think the initial diagnosis was between six to eight weeks, but I think he's already got through two or three of those. So he's on the road. He's feeling good. Fingers crossed we'll see him probably in May sometime.”

Doubts over Jamaal Lascelles

It’s hoped Botman can return at the beginning of May and be involved in Newcastle’s Champions League qualification run-in. However the chances of fellow centre-back Jamaal Lascelles making a comeback before then is growing increasingly unlikely.

Lascelles picked up an ACL injury in March last year, just a couple of weeks after Botman sustained the same issue. The Dutchman was out for 10 months and played five times before sustaining another knee problem, although it is in the opposite knee.

“I don’t know whether we’ll see Jamaal before the end of the season,” Howe said. “I don’t really want to set a target on his time to return. He’s started very light training with the squad, but that would be light, not necessarily in competitive drills. He’s joined in the drills that have been non-competitive, and he’s looked really good. It’s small steps for him.

“We’re hoping he can definitely be joining in and competing in training before the end of the season, but whether that ties in with the team and whether he gets there in time in terms of competitive action, let’s wait and see.

“He’s a big player for us. He’s very popular, and he’s still a huge leader in the group. He’s got a big presence, and I’m delighted that he got to lift the cup with the other guys. He deserved that moment for the length of time he’s been here and the service he’s given the club.”

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