According to iNews, Newcastle United defender Sven Botman could be back from his knee injury sooner than the eight-week timeline set out for his recovery.
The Magpies return to action in the Premier League next Wednesday against Brentford, the clash at St James’ Park will be the first time the Newcastle squad has played together since their historic victory at Wembley Stadium.
Supporters will be lining the streets of Newcastle this weekend as the club and squad will return to Tyneside to celebrate their first trophy in 70 years with a bus parade and live event at Town Moor.
The Carabao Cup winners will come back together following international duty and a warm-weather training camp to complete the remainder of their Premier League campaign, with a huge opportunity to boost their already confirmed spot in European football next season.
Newcastle are currently sixth in the Premier League, with Conference League football already earned with the Carabao Cup win, however, they are only two points behind Chelsea in fourth with ten games left to play, so there is a chance to upgrade to either Europa League or Champions League football.
The squad has had their fair share of injuries this season, and more recently, both Lewis Hall and Sven Botman were subjected to surgery to repair issues with the left-back being ruled out for the rest of the season to recover.
Botman was given an eight-week timeframe for a lesser serious operation on the knee opposite to the one he suffered an ACL on last season, but a new report has revealed that his recovery could be faster than expected.
iNews claims that the Dutch defender could be back much sooner than expected after making good progress following his surgery and could be involved in more games than just the final four projected when he suffered the injury.
Should Botman start for Newcastle?
There is no doubt that Botman is one of the star players for Newcastle, but with Dan Burn and Fabian Schar in fine form recently, Eddie Howe will not feel pressure to rush the 25-year-old back.
Botman – hailed “extraordinary” by the Newcastle boss on his ACL recovery – was a massive influence on their previous Champions League qualification back in 2023 and with Burn more than capable of covering the left-back role that has been left open due to Hall’s injury, there’s no reason why the pair won’t both continue to feature in the first-team together.
The North East giants have a busy month in April with six Premier League games including Brentford (H), Leicester City (A), Manchester United (H), Crystal Palace (H), Aston Villa (A) and Ipswich Town (H).
The congested schedule leading up to the final day of the season on the 25th of May, there will be plenty of opportunities for Howe to rotate and give Botman the game time he deserves when he returns to action.