Newcastle United star Sven Botman has insisted he believes he made the right choice in moving to St James Park, despite it not being seen as ‘ideal’ in the Netherlands.
Botman has been impressing since arriving in a €37m deal from Lille in the summer after months of speculation about a move.
He had been linked with Newcastle throughout the January transfer window, but Lille refused to accept the Magpies advances, with them instead signing Dan Burn from Brighton.
They returned in the summer and eventually got their man at the beginning of July, spending big for the 22-year-old.
He’s since established himself in the heart of Eddie Howe’s team, with a series of impressive performances helping Newcastle to third in the table.
It’s been an impressive rise for the Dutch defender, who joined Ajax as a youngster and worked his way up their youth ranks between 2009 and 2020.
He’s explained why things didn’t work out for him at the Amsterdam ArenA and now says he thinks he did the right thing in taking the path he’s taken.
“In the Netherlands, I think there is a kind of ideal picture,” he told Voetbal International, relayed by FC Update.
“A young footballer should first have played a few years in the top of the Eredivisie and only then make the step abroad.
“For me, that route just wasn’t the ideal picture, if only because I didn’t think I’m the type of defender who could break through at Ajax. The way I look at it is that there is no ideal picture.”
