Sven Botman may not admit it but one of the game’s most highly-rated defenders certainly has a point to prove during tonight’s Europa League clash between Lille and Ajax at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.
Back in July, the Eredivisie giants sold the fresh-faced centre-back to Lille in a deal worth just £8 million.
And, in the space of just six months, Botman has blossomed from fourth or fifth choice at the Johan Cruyff Arena into one of the first names on the team-sheet for a youthful Lille site keeping Paris Saint-Germain off the top of the Ligue 1 table.
There’s little to suggest that Botman’s steep trajectory is going to level off any time soon either.
FootMercato claim that Liverpool are watching the classy Dutchman closely, as are a Tottenham side in dire need of a reliable central defender (Fabrizio Romano).
So is Ajax boss Erik Ten Hag surprised to see a man who never made a single first-team appearance in Amsterdam go from strength to strength across the border?
“No, actually not. We already saw the potential at Ajax before we loaned him to Heerenveen (in the 2019/20 season),” Ten Hag explains to Voetbal International.
“’We had two very good central defenders at Ajax, he was just behind them. Then you have to make choices and he has taken a good step. It’s nice to see how he holds his own, but that also says something about our central defenders.”
Botman, meanwhile, insists that he has no regrets about walking away from Ajax despite spending 11 years honing his talents in one of Europe’s most feted finishing schools.
“I could have stayed at Ajax, but there I was second or third choice as central defender,” Botman himself tells VI.
“That’s no shame at my age, but I saw more chances at Lille. And that decision has worked out very well.
“It is going well, I have a lot of confidence and I notice that I am constantly growing. Here you play against top strikers every week, you cannot switch off for a moment. I feel more and more complete.”
Now, with a place in the Europa League last-16 on the line, Botman has the ideal opportunity to show his old employers what they are missing.
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