Chelsea’s out-of-form striker Alvaro Morata has been left out of Spain’s squad for their upcoming international friendlies against Germany and Argentina, according to a report on Sky Sports.
The striker has fallen out of favour with Chelsea boss Antonio Conte in recent weeks after he was absent from the squad with illness and injury last month.
The Spaniard has been used as a substitute in recent weeks after the arrival of French striker Olivier Giroud in the January transfer window.
Morata has also found himself left out of the team in favour of Belgian Eden Hazard playing in the false nine position.
Spain coach Julen Lopetegui has not seen enough quality from Morata recently to give him a place in the squad but claimed that the striker should not be disheartened about being left out.
Morata still has plenty of time to work himself back into the national team setup before the World Cup and Lopetegui believes he has what it takes to make it to Russia.
He said:
Morata is somebody who has almost always been included. He’s had some physical problems and he’s not been playing much and we’ve decided that now it was better to call up others.
But he’s not out of our thoughts and he has his chances to go to the World Cup. We hope that he will have more prominence in his team.
I’m sure he’s going to have an extraordinary end to the season and will have every chance to be with us. I’ve no doubt about that.
Morata started the the season in fine goalscoring form but has struggled to continue that from after the Christmas period.
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