Newcastle United summer signing wants to end season on a high after double set-back

The 23-year-old centre-back shone during his debut season in the Premier League as he formed part of the joint-best defence in the division to help Newcastle secure a fourth place finish. Now the 2022-23 season is over for The Magpies, Botman has turned his attention to international duty with the Netherlands.

The Dutchman is hoping to make his senior debut for his country in the upcoming Nations League semi-final against Croatia on Wednesday, June 14. Botman suffered a series of set-backs at international level during the 2022-23 season after withdrawing from the Netherlands Under-21s squad to focus on establishing a spot in Newcastle’s starting line-up.

He was named in the long-list for the World Cup squad but failed to make the final cut and was called-up again during the last international break in March but missed out on making his senior debut as he withdrew from the squad due to food poisoning. Netherlands were beaten 4-0 by France before beating Gibraltar 3-0 in the European Championship qualifiers.

At just 23, Botman has already won the Ligue 1 title and reached the Champions League knockout stage with Lille as well as helped Newcastle reach a first major final in 24 years and secure a top four finish. But making his senior international debut is an important milestone for the young Dutchman.

“I can still take a lot of steps,” he told Trouw. “The next one is making my debut for the Netherlands.

“I’m almost 24, so it’s not going very fast. But everything in due time. The goal is to make my debut, I’m ready if the coach needs me. But I’m just waiting for my moment and I’m not in a hurry.”

In a rare interview about Newcastle earlier in the season, Botman praised the team ethos established by head coach Eddie Howe.

“I’ve never seen everyone so clearly working on the same plan,” he said. “It is very difficult for our opponents to get through. We really do it together on this team.

“Our manager is also very important. Eddie Howe is very demanding, but knows how to get qualities out of players that they didn’t even know they were capable of. That belief in your own abilities is very important.”