A 2nd member of the first-team ranks at La Liga giants Barcelona has on Saturday officially dropped out of national team duty with Spain.
This comes amid confirmation that Marc Bernal has been replaced in the country’s U21 squad.
The name of midfielder Bernal of course emerged as a leading one in the media chatter across Spain on Friday.
This came after the 18-year-old was afforded a surprise place in La Rojita’s squad for upcoming fixtures against Norway and Finland.
Bernal is for his part fresh off a long-term spell on the sidelines, having only recently recovered from an ACL tear.
In turn, it sparked bemusement behind the scenes in Barcelona when word was forthcoming that the midfielder had been selected by Spain.
The Blaugrana therefore swiftly moved to have the call overturned.
And as alluded to above, on Saturday, Hansi Flick and co. have seen their request responded to, in positive fashion.
As per a statement across the Spanish national team’s official social media platforms:
‘Wolves player Fer López will join the Spanish U-21 team on Monday, as they face Norway and Finland in the October window. Fer López replaces Marc Bernal in the squad, who is suffering from physical discomfort.’
Bernal is the 2nd Barcelona star to pull out of Spain duty over the last 24 hours, after Lamine Yamal did likewise at senior level.
Conor Laird – GSFN
