Newcastle United ACL injury bombshell revealed as 'nine months' out claim made

Sven Botman has recently returned to fitness following an extended spell on the sidelines due to a knee injury.

The 23-year-old missed almost three months of football for Newcastle after it was confirmed he had picked up a knee injury back in September. Botman's last match before being ruled out was the 8-0 win at Sheffield United in which he scored his first goal for the club.

But it has now transpired that the defender was playing through injury in the match at Bramall Lane as well as the 0-0 draw against AC Milan at the San Siro the game prior.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Botman admitted: "I did my knee against Brentford but then played two games after that [without realising].

"It blew up the day after the Sheffield United game and the scan showed some big damage in my knee. Some [specialists] said it was a total rupture, others said that it wasn’t. So I’ve done everything to rest and avoid surgery.

"The operation would’ve kept me out for nine months but I’m back and feeling like my old self again — so it seems like I made the right choice.”

Botman returned to the starting line-up for Newcastle in the Carabao Cup match at Chelsea last month but was substituted at half-time as a precaution. He started his first Premier League match in over three months in the 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest at St James' Park and completed 79 minutes before being replaced by Lewis Hall late on.