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Newcastle United star Sven Botman's honest answer when asked about his decision to leave Ajax; Newcastle United paid

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Byline: By, Lee Ryder

Sven Botman has no regrets that his one-time dream of being a first-team star at Ajax faded after rising through the club's famous youth Academy.

Botman, who signed for Newcastle United for £34million, was not chosen as one of the pick of the Ajax Academy and instead loaned out to Heerenveen before being sold to Lille in Ligue 1. His route to the top has therefore been slightly more unconventional than some of his Ajax counterparts.

Hailing from the small Dutch town of Badhoevedorp, the same place Holland legend Marco Van Basten grew up, Botman was picked up by Ajax at just seven-years-old.

READ MORE: Eddie Howe hints that Sven Botman may have to wait for full Newcastle debut

Botman told Chronicle Live: "I started playing there when I was seven or eight. I went through all the youth teams, and at a certain point, I went to one team higher. I was seen as a talented player, but I was also not the big talent of the youth.

"It was a smooth journey into the Ajax squad. When I trained with the first team, it was really good, but I felt that I was not ready to be in the squad, so I went on loan to Heerenveen for one season, which was really good for me to have a different environment."

Botman admits that despite having talent he was ultimately overlooked due to the amount of choice on offer at Ajax. He said: "At Ajax, everything is a good level. The...

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