Four players who must be in the Spain squad
This quartet has been banging down the door this season.
On Friday lunchtime Luis de la Fuente will name the first Spain squad of his tenure and many players are hoping to take advantage of the abrupt change of regime following Spain’s elimination from the World Cup last year.
Among those hoping for the call include players who have been fixtures in De la Fuente’s U21 squads of the past, former internationals who had been left out under Luis Enrique, or even players who may change nationality in order to represent the Spanish flag.
However, in the opinion of La Liga Lowdown, these four stars are simply March must-picks. For a coach who claims to be best-placed to “know the past, present and future” of Spanish football, these four can deliver now and in the medium to long term.
Gabri Veiga
The revelation player of the season in LaLiga, Gabri Veiga has exploded for Celta. A local boy just like his idol and captain Iago Aspas, Veiga was born in O Porriño, is still just 20 years old and was recently awarded with the LaLiga Player of the Month award.
A versatile attacker, he is comfortable off the flanks or in behind the strikers, often enjoying arriving from deep, a classic example of llegada. He is also a proficient ball carrier, driving forward the team in which he is fast becoming the centre of gravity.
“Going to the national team would be the most beautiful thing. It is one of my objectives” — Gabri Veiga on a potential call-up.
But it is perhaps his final-third productivity which is generating most excitement in Spain and further afield. Among all players under the age of 21 in Europe’s top five leagues, only Jamal Musiala and Elye Wahi have scored more than Veiga, who has contributed eight goals and three assists.
Aleix García
This Girona midfielder is probably the under-rated player of the season. The creator-in-chief for a promoted side who love to play expansive attacking football, everything good Girona do passes through Aleix García.
It isn’t just this corner of Catalonia where he tops the standings, but across the league as a whole. As shown above, his vision and technical ability put him in the top tier of attacking midfielders in the country.
A product of the Villarreal cantera, he had spells at Manchester City and in Romania before returning to Girona via Eibar. He has featured in many of Spain’s youth categories, but his sole appearance for the U21s came back in 2018, alongside Dani Ceballos, Carlos Soler, Mikel Merino and Mikel Oyarzabal. Now aged 25, he is approaching his prime and is fully deserving of a call-up to the senior side.
Iago Aspas
A name universally known to all LaLiga fans, Iago Aspas has already featured for Spain on multiple occasions, but was left out by Luis Enrique in recent times. Despite a significant clamour for him to go to Qatar, Lucho stuck to his opinion that Aspas was not the ideal forward for how he wanted his team to play. Now is the time for a fresh start, and Aspas can certainly feature prominently in a national side that struggles for natural goalscorers in forward areas.
Last weekend Aspas made history by becoming just the eighth man in LaLiga history to score 11+ goals in eight consecutive league campaigns, proving that he is not slowing down any time soon. He continues to out-perform his xG, another tick in the box when it comes to offering a solution to Spain’s recent conversion issues.
There has always been much more to his game than just the goals – many argue that is enough anyway – and this heatmap illustrates his sphere of influence on the pitch.
His last cap came in June 2019 against the Faroe Islands, but clearly he deserves another shot.
Arnau Martínez
Left-back is a position in which Spain is well stocked, so choosing from the long list of options will be one of De la Fuente’s trickier tasks. Right-back, however, has much less depth.
Making the case for the Girona full-back, he is typical of the modern age in terms of his attacking gusto, but there is also a balance to his game which belies his age. In good company on the attacking production metrics, Arnau is diligent in his defensive work too.
Crucially, De la Fuente is obviously a fan already. He gave him his U21 debut earlier this season and he has started all three of their games in this campaign. With emphasis on youth clearly a feature of De la Fuente’s coaching pedigree, look out for gems like Arnau being given the chance in the senior setup.