Botman was a half-time substitute as Newcastle took on the Gunners in Singapore, but lasted just 25 minutes before making way after pointing to his groin.
Howe confirmed after the game that the Dutchman had felt a muscular tightness, but is hoping he was withdrawn before any major damage occurred.
Botman will be assessed by Newcastle’s medical staff in the next 24 hours before a decision is taken over whether he will be involved in the Magpies’ two games in South Korea next week against a K-League All Stars XI and Tottenham.
“He [Botman] came off and said his groin was tight,” said Howe. “Fingers crossed he’s okay.”
Howe confirmed that Alexander Isak would not be joining up with the rest of the first-team squad in South Korea, and conceded that Newcastle need to bring in reinforcements ahead of the start of the Premier League season in less than three weeks’ time.
“We’re not deluded,” said the Magpies boss. “We know we need to bring players in. We’ve known that. We know what we wanted. It’s been a challenging window.”
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Newcastle lost to Arsenal, but at least produced a much-improved display from their lacklustre showing as they were thrashed by Celtic last weekend.
Arsenal unveiled new signing Viktor Gyokeres before kick-off, but the Swede did not play any part in the game.
Instead, it was Newcastle’s Swedish signing, Anthony Elanga, who opened the scoring, firing home from inside the area in the fifth minutes after Sandro Tonali squared the ball from the right.
Former Magpies midfielder Mikel Merino levelled the scores for Arsenal shortly after the half-hour mark, slotting past Nick Pope after Leandro Trossard’s pass had been helped into his path.
Ninety seconds later, and the Gunners were in the lead, with Alex Murphy bundling the ball into his own net after Kai Havertz crossed into the middle.
Newcastle levelled just before the hour mark as Jacob Murphy beat David Raya with a left-footed drive, and when Murphy turned provider, Will Osula came close with a header.
However, Arsenal claimed a winner with seven minutes remaining when Joelinton was adjudged to have foul Max Dowman in the area. Martin Odegaard stepped up to beat substitute goalkeeper John Ruddy.