Luis de la Fuente closes door on Spain call-up for Real Madrid star

It has been well-documented that Real Madrid have lost a sense of Spanish identity in the first team squad in the last 12 months, which has also meant that they did not have any players called up for La Roja’s fixtures earlier in the season. Nacho Fernandez and Joselu Mato were two players involved in the national team, but they both left last summer to pursue new adventures in Saudi Arabia and Qatar respectively.

Kepa Arrizabalaga also departed, and that left Dani Carvajal, Lucas Vazquez, Fran Garcia and Dani Ceballos as the only Spaniards in the Real Madrid first team. However, they have since been joined by Raul Asencio, who has been a revelation since making his debut in November.

Since then, Asencio has taken advantage of injuries to Eder Militao and David Alaba to establish himself as a regular starter, and he impressed in Real Madrid’s 3-2 victory over Manchester City on Tuesday. Given this, it is no surprise that he has linked with a possible call-up to the Spanish national team for next month’s UEFA Nations League quarter-final tie against the Netherlands.

However, Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente has poured cold water on the chances of Asencio being involved in those matches, as per Sport.

“It’s very difficult to get into the national team. There are very good players in all the Spanish teams. He is a very good player and he is playing, having continuity now, which is what we need.”

Spain certainly have an embarrassment of riches in the centre of defence, with the likes of Aymeric Laporte, Robin Le Normand, Pau Cubarsi, Dani Vivian and Pau Torres all being ahead of Asencio, who is expected to sign a new contract with Real Madrid in the coming weeks. As much, the breakout star may have to settle for a place in Santi Denia’s U21 squad.