Brais Mendez, Pablo Fornals, Rodrigo & Carlos Soler called into Spain squad

Brais Mendez, Pablo Fornals, Rodrigo Moreno and Carlos Soler have all been called up to the Spain squad following Sergio Busquets' positive test for COVID-19.

Busquets immediately left the Spain camp, while his close contacts are isolating but have stayed with the group, which makes it's likely he won’t be coming back. Jordi Alba has also replaced him as captain.

Coach Luis Enrique only named 24 players for his final squad, meaning that two of the available place went unused. However, UEFA’s deadline for final squad submissions has since passed, with changes only permitted at this stage in the event of injury or illness, and Spain will wait until results of tests later this week to determine which players they will make eligible for the tournament.

Mendez was initially reported as the sole replacement for the Barcelona midfielder, before Fornals, Rodrigo and Soler were all called up to their training bubble too.

The 24-year-old helped Celta climb back into the top half of La Liga this season, having dangerously flirted with relegation in 2019/20, operating in several positions.

Mendez is already known to Enrique. The Spain coach was in charge at Celta when a teenage Mendez was rising through the youth ranks and on the fringes of the B team.

It was also Enrique who handed Mendez his one and only senior cap to date in 2018. That came in an international friendly against Bosnia & Herzegovina in Las Palmas and he marked it with a goal.

Spain’s preparations for the final tournament have been derailed by Busquets’ positive test. The senior squad have pulled out of a final warm-up game scheduled against Lithuania and it will now be the Under-21 squad that faces the Baltic nation this week instead.

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