Sven Botman transfer swap claim as Newcastle United 'man-mountain' returns to form
Sven Botman has started the last five games for Newcastle United.
Eddie Howe says there aren’t many defenders he’d swap Sven Botman for when the Newcastle United star is at his best.
Botman started for the fifth consecutive game as the Magpies beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 at St James’ Park on Sunday.
The Dutchman has suffered from various knee issues in the past 18 months but is currently enjoying his most consistent run in the starting XI since the 2023-24 season.
Newcastle began the campaign with Fabian Schar and Dan Burn as their first-choice centre-back partnership but have been displaced by Botman and £35million summer signing Malick Thiaw.
That said, there have been contributing factors. Fabian Schar was recently forced to miss 10 days due to concussion protocols, while injuries to Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall has saw Burn move back out to left-back.
Malick Thiaw x Sven Botman partnership at Newcastle United
Speaking after the win over Forest, Howe said: “I can say I'm really pleased with Sven and Malick, I think they've done very, very well together. I thought they could play together, but you need to see it work. But it doesn't mean anything other than the fact that they've done very well to this point.
“Who knows what's going to happen in the future? Fabian is very important. Dan is very, very important because he's sort of played two roles and now with injuries to Lewis and Tino, that takes even more importance on him.
“But you've got Jamaal Lascelles, Emil Krafth, we've got some very, very good defenders who have done well for us. Any of those players can play and it's up to those guys that have the shirt to keep playing on.”
Eddie Howe: ‘There aren’t many players I’d swap Sven Botman for’
Botman’s form has acted as a reminder of how good he is, so much so that Howe insists there aren’t many defenders he’d swap the 25-year-old for.
Howe said: “Yeah, that's a very good question and probably one that isn't highlighted enough because when we lost him, I was really down about that because we'd lost an outstanding player, character, person, but distributor of the ball.
“Short and long range, he brought the other side of the pitch into play a lot when we were under pressure and we lost that from our game. And that was a huge blow.
“Not only that, he's a man-mountain. He's a physical beast which, in this league, you need. I thought we catered really well with his absence.
“I thought Dan Burn in particular was absolutely magnificent but Sven's got qualities that Dan doesn't have and vice versa. They're both very different players. It's great to see them now on the same team, still contributing in the way that they are.
“Sven can hopefully, from this moment, still improve and get back to his very, very highest levels because there aren’t many I’d look to swap him with if he’s at his best.”