Former England international and Premier League midfielder Leon Osman has heaped praise onto 'trustworthy' Newcastle United summer signing Sven Botman after the Dutchman's seamless transition to the Premier League.
Formerly of Ligue 1's Lille before a €35million (£30million) bid from the Magpies, Botman has been the beating heart defensively for Eddie Howe and his side throughout the first 15 matches of this stellar campaign.
Having started all but three matches so far this season, he's made an excellent start to life in England's top division alongside the likes of Fabian Schar, Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier who have all themselves had fantastic seasons.
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Playing his part in one of the best defences in the Premier League, Botman's blossoming partnership with Schar has been all the talk for some time now with the pair conceding just nine goals this season when both have been playing on the pitch.
While formerly a midfielder, Osman highlighted the amount of respect he has for Botman and claims that he's the reason Eddie Howe's side can be so good going forward.
When asked by host Kelly Cates on the Premier League's official YouTube channel about how much responsibility Botman should take for giving Newcastle’s forwards the chance to flourish, Osman said:
"Huge responsibility. You say the team are effective at the top end of the field. One of the reasons is because he’s so trustworthy defensively.
"They don’t need to over cover him, they don’t need to have two or three players around him. They can release them forward – they can release them to press, knowing that he can deal with near enough any situation coming.
"I’ve been hugely impressed with his start in a Newcastle shirt."
At such a young age of 22, Botman looks incredibly comfortable in the system Howe is playing so far this year, and with his age certainly comes bucket-loads of potential to get even better than he already is.
With Howe's defensive structure arguably being the most impressive change around the side from this point last year, it's no wonder the Magpies are flying high in third when they've conceded the least amount of goals in the league (11) and scored the fourth-most (29, only behind Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur).
There's only one way for Botman's ability to be going and the trajectory is sky-high - at least that's what Osman sees in him.
"We spoke about [Gabriel] Jesus at the start of the show and we said about the impact he’s had one the team – that’s exactly what Sven Botman has had. He’s had an incredible impact on the team and I can see that continuing."
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