Sven Botman

[duo]

41 minutes ago, madras said:

Do our medical team know if hes injury prone or just been unlucky with injuries ? There is a difference.

Once a play suffers a serious injury they're always more prone going forward.  You see it all the time.

[madras]

13 minutes ago, duo said:

Once a play suffers a serious injury they're always more prone going forward.  You see it all the time.

They are for a time as they "step up" but if a player suffers an ACL for example is he more likely to suffer a dislocated shoulder than a player free of injury a year later ?

 

 

Edited December 24, 2025 by madras

[Ilovetoon8788]

He's just not reliable. I'd say sell him and get a replacement in like Geuhi

[The College Dropout]

6 hours ago, The Prophet said:

If nothing else you renew his contract to retain his value. 

Agreed.  But reasonable wages and a small maybe 2-year extension. 
 

He may want to leave if that’s the best we can offer mind 

[r0cafella]

Issue is this, if your Botman your telling the club the injuries were due to his commitment and he's proven his quality aka asking for a raise. He's shown his quality so being a free agent might hold some appeal to him. 

[Menace]

I can easily see him running down his contract to be fair, makes logical sense for him. Some team will give him a hefty sign on fee as well.

[Sibierski]

9 hours ago, Chris_R said:

We should renew his contract, be crazy not to. On his day he's excellent and it would cost a lot to get someone else as good in. 

 

Plus Schar and Burn are both getting on now so if Botman leaves that's 3 DCs we'd need.

It’s a tough one. I understand rationale for renewing, because he’s still a good defender when fit (if he’ll accept same wages, which is a different question).

 

Flipside I can see, it blocks off a pathway for LCB if we wanted to sign a young successor. Burn is contracted to 2027, but if he’s still useful and more reliable than Botman next season, do we let Burn leave on a free? 
 

For me it comes down to do we see and Trust Botman to be our main starting LCB for rest of decade? If answer is no, you sell in summer and sign that starting CB like Thaiw was this summer. Burn has a final season and you sign a young CB in 2027 (like we should be signing a young RCB in 2026). 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2025 by Sibierski

[Sibierski]

We are regularly linked to Trafford after he went to Man City, but I wonder if come summer we are linked with going back for Khusanov as that RCB (and can cover RB) if our data is still saying he’s one of the best to get for a young age still.

[Cf]

In hindsight this summer was the time to sell him. 

 

Which is a shame as a couple of years ago he looked like an all timer but just seems like the injuries have done for him. 

 

I think best for all parties is an extension of a couple of years. Let him string together some games to prove to us he still has the quality or prove to someone else he can at least have a run without injuries. 

[Nucasol]

Sell him this summer. We missed the boat on selling at his peak, we need something back in to finance what needs to be a pretty hefty overhaul of the defence.

 

Lascelles

Trippier

Kraft

[Wallsendmag]

26 minutes ago, Nucasol said:

Sell him this summer. We missed the boat on selling at his peak, we need something back in to finance what needs to be a pretty hefty overhaul of the defence.

 

Lascelles

Trippier

Kraft

 

Schar and Burn could well we playing their last season next year as well.

[Benwell Lad]

His salary going forward in any new contract would be decided by how much anyone else is prepared to pay him and how much we want to keep him.

Statement of the obvious I know, but all parties will factor in his injury record.

It's how we picked up Callum Wilson for a paltry 20M and probably makes Bruno priceless.

[The Prophet]

Gave him the benefit of the doubt last season, recovering from an ACL injury can be brutal and result in set backs, but this sesson he's showing he simply can't be trusted to be consistently available.

 

It's a shame because he started the season brilliantly and when he's at his best, he's one of the finest CBs in the league.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

1 hour ago, Nucasol said:

Sell him this summer. We missed the boat on selling at his peak, we need something back in to finance what needs to be a pretty hefty overhaul of the defence.

 

Lascelles

Trippier

Kraft

True, but what we would have if he can stay fit is 2 excellent starting CBs. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

28 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

Gave him the benefit of the doubt last season, recovering from an ACL injury can be brutal and result in set backs, but this sesson he's showing he simply can't be trusted to be consistently available.

 

It's a shame because he started the season brilliantly and when he's at his best, he's one of the finest CBs in the league.

Always interesting where people draw the line about temporarily vs permanently injured. 
 

You don’t see people talking about selling Livramento anywhere near as much. 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2025 by AyeDubbleYoo

[Sibierski]

His injuries are more from unfortunate knocks being knee this season and ankle season back. If it was muscle injuries (on top of not being quality in two positions), may be a different narrative. But he's far more reliable for me than Sven.

[The Prophet]

13 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Always interesting where people draw the line about temporarily vs permanently injured. 
 

You don’t see people talking about selling Livramento anywhere near as much. 

 

 

 

 

Just had a look at this:

 

 

[NUFC91]

He's a decent player but some of comments in here a bit over the top imo, elite etc... I don't think he's ever been quick enough to be elite. I think 2 centre halfs will be a must within the next 2 Windows.

 

 

Edited December 24, 2025 by NUFC91

[The Prophet]

19 minutes ago, NUFC91 said:

He's a decent player but some of comments in here a bit over the top imo, elite etc... I don't think he's ever been quick enough to be elite. I think 2 centre halfs will be a must within the next 2 Windows.

 

 

 

 

In 22/23 he was comfortably one of the top three centre backs in the league.

 

His reading of the game is superb and more than compensates for his lack of pace. His passing was also a big reason we were able to play so high up the pitch.

 

He's rated very highly amongst other fans too, which probably tells you he's become underrated amongst our own.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

28 minutes ago, NUFC91 said:

He's a decent player but some of comments in here a bit over the top imo, elite etc... I don't think he's ever been quick enough to be elite. I think 2 centre halfs will be a must within the next 2 Windows.

 

 

 

Is Van Dijk quick? Not really. It’s overrated for a CB, they should never get into a situation where they’re relying on pace. 

[Smal]

Van Dijk is/was really fast, yeah

 

Was certainly rapid before his drop-off earlier this year. One of the main features of his play.

 

 

Edited December 24, 2025 by Smal

[Lucky]

A fit Botman is our best defender technically. He’s not been doing it for a while but his passing, especially those cross field passes to Trippier were a thing of beauty.

 

You can clearly see once he has a run of games clubs start getting interested in him because he is elite.. renew his contract on the same terms or close to.

 

But if we got an offer of what we paid for him or a bit more I’d cash out.

Someone available is more valuable to us right now.

 

 

Edited December 24, 2025 by Lucky

[Yorkie]

1 hour ago, The Prophet said:

 

In 22/23 he was comfortably one of the top three centre backs in the league.

 

His reading of the game is superb and more than compensates for his lack of pace. His passing was also a big reason we were able to play so high up the pitch.

 

He's rated very highly amongst other fans too, which probably tells you he's become underrated amongst our own.

 

Aye he was unreal in 22/23. Go back to around pg 200 of this thread and we couldn't believe the talent we had on our hands.

 

You get the vibe that he won't fulfill his potential here and the comparisons to Woodgate are valid. We just feel it much less now, because nowadays we have a battalion of incredible CBs - whereas back then it was Bramble, O'Brien and a young Steven Taylor.

[KingArthur]

1 hour ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Is Van Dijk quick? Not really. It’s overrated for a CB, they should never get into a situation where they’re relying on pace. 

Van Dijk is quite quick to be honest

[AyeDubbleYoo]

19 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 

Aye he was unreal in 22/23. Go back to around pg 200 of this thread and we couldn't believe the talent we had on our hands.

 

You get the vibe that he won't fulfill his potential here and the comparisons to Woodgate are valid. We just feel it much less now, because nowadays we have a battalion of incredible CBs - whereas back then it was Bramble, O'Brien and a young Steven Taylor.

Botman is still one of my favourite signings since the takeover. Just to go and get a Rolls Royce CB like that was class. 
 

Haven’t given up hope he’ll come back well.