Spain eye Koke, consider Diego Costa

Koke Resurreccion is reportedly seen as Spain’s short-term solution to the absent Xabi Alonso and Thiago Alcantara, whilst Diego Costa has attention.

Alonso, who missed the Confederations Cup in the summer after groin surgery, has recently had to go back under the knife after suffering a fractured metatarsal.

Bayern’s Thiago, meanwhile, joins the Real Madrid man on the sidelines for a number of weeks, after damaging ankle ligaments at the weekend and also requiring surgical intervention.

The duo are ruled out for La Roja’s next four games in September and October, whilst for next month’s fixtures with Finland and Chile, Vicente del Bosque is also expected to be without Javi Martinez, through an abdominal injury.

Subsequently, it is believed that the head Coach is considering Koke for a second call-up to the senior squad.

The Atletico Madrid man was included in Del Bosque’s experimental squad to face Ecuador in mid-August and debuted from the bench in the second half.

AS believe that the 21-year-old and club colleague Mario Suarez, who debuted for Spain in February, are favourites to make Friday’s squad announcement, alongside Athletic Bilbao’s Benat Etxebarria. Manchester City’s Javi Garcia is also considered as an outsider for inclusion.

Meanwhile, in attack it is seen that David Villa and Roberto Soldado are set for a place in Del Bosque’s latest squad, alongside most likely Alvaro Negredo.

Fernando Torres and Fernando Llorente’s respective struggles for regular game-time reportedly see them down the pecking order, whilst Diego Costa’s continued form for Atleti apparently has attention.

It is believed that the Brazilian forward, who has appeared only in two unofficial games for the Selecao and this summer achieved Spanish citizenship, is still available for a call-up and is apparently being considered.

Del Bosque will announce a squad of 24 this Friday for the World Cup qualifier against Finland in Helsinki on September 6 and the friendly with Chile four days later in Geneva.

Tags Alonso Diego Costa Javi Martinez Koke Mario Suarez Spain Thiago
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