Sven Botman has shared his excitement at wearing the Newcastle United shirt for the first time against 1860 Munich. He was introduced from the bench at half-time in Austria and is now firmly looking ahead to the final game of the trip against Mainz.
While still only a pre-season outing, Botman’s performance was well received by the Magpies supporters who are extremely eager to see what he can do in the Premier League. He too is looking forward to getting stuck in for his new club in a competitive capacity.
"It felt very good - finally - after some weeks training. It feels very nice to wear the shirt of this club for the first time,” he told the club’s official website.
"Of course, when I signed here, you're always looking towards which game is your first one. This is a friendly, and I'm now looking forward to the first game.
"It was just excitement, really. I've been training now for a couple of days with this group and it feels very good, and in an adapting way it has gone fast, which is good for me.
"Now it's just time to see what is each other's strengths and get to know each other more and more. It's all positive points."
It has been vital for Botman, as well as the other new recruits, to get used to playing and training with a new set of team mates over the last few weeks. Even after the training camp in Austria comes to an end with the game against Mainz on Monday, there is still plenty of work to be done.
United then travel to Portugal for another pre-season camp where they will face Benfica before returning to St James’ Park for clashes against Atalanta and Athletic Bilbao. Botman admitted that the first of the two trips has been hugely beneficial before they ramp up their preparations for the Premier League campaign.
"It's always good because you see each other 24/seven," said the Dutch centre-back. It's not the always the nicest time of the year - you get a lot of (physical) training and everything - but it's very good for yourself to get yourself into a new team and get to know everybody, as well as a new system, a new way of training, a new way of playing. It's very good to have these kind of trips.
“It's been quite hot here - I think around 30 degrees - and it's always hard, pre-season is always hard. But it's good for you, to get ready for the league, and we are all excited for that. Everybody is working hard."
The first opportunity that Magpies fans will have to see Botman in action at St James’ Park will be in the final two friendlies of pre-season. He will almost definitely be involved in one of the two fixtures against Atalanta and Athletic Bilbao on July 29 and July 30 respectively.
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