Spain manager could exclude Barcelona midfielder from squad for Euro qualifiers

After an absence of more than two months due to injury, Barcelona midfield superstar Pedri returned to action this past Saturday night in the 1-0 win against Real Sociedad.

The young Spanish prodigy has had a lot of injury problems in his short career at the highest level and as such, the Catalans did not take any risks with his recovery and only brought him back once the midfielder felt fully ready.

Pedri came on as a substitute against Sociedad on Saturday and his introduction almost immediately added more spark to the team’s gameplay.

However, at the same time, there will be caution with his game-time in the coming weeks, given the amount of time he has been out on the sidelines.

Spain call-up unlikely

As such, SPORT’s Jordi Gil is reporting that Spain manager Luis de la Fuente is unlikely to call Pedri up for La Roja’s upcoming UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying fixtures against Cyprus and Georgia.

Luis de la Fuente will announce the squad for the final international window of 2023 on Friday.

Spain face Cyprus in Limassol on Thursday 16 November, while on Sunday they take on Georgia in Valladolid in their last two games of the Euro 2024 qualification campaign in which they have already secured their ticket for the tournament.

De la Fuente has still not been able to count on Pedri since he replaced Luis Enrique as the Spain manager. Injuries have prevented him from calling up a player he considers crucial to La Roja’s hopes for the European Championship in Germany next year.

Pedri is now medically cleared, played minutes against Real Sociedad, and is available to be called up. However, De la Fuente will take a cautious approach with the midfielder.

De la Fuente, Xavi on the same page

As per the report, De la Fuente has regularly asked about Pedri’s condition during the weeks that he has been out of action.

His intention is to protect the player and not to force him in the slightest. His return to the field of play at Anoeta was a great joy for the coach, who will also be keeping an eye on Tuesday’s game against Shakhtar in which Pedri could get more minutes.

Only then will he decide whether Pedri is ready to be called up or whether he prefers the midfielder to stay in Barcelona to work with Xavi Hernandez’s staff and improve his physical condition.

Barça have a tough end to November and the beginning of December ahead of them and Xavi needs a much-improved version of Pedri by then.

In this sense, Xavi and De la Fuente go hand in hand. The Spain coach does not need Pedri as a priority for the matches against Georgia and Cyprus.

Although a top seed for the draw for Euro 2024 in Hamburg on 2 December will be at stake, it is a minor objective compared to the importance of having Pedri at 100 percent.