Mar Bartra
Marca Bartra (left) and Juan Mata (right) have been left out of the Spanish squad. g

KEY POINTS

  • Julen Lopetegui has named a 23-man squad for World Cup qualifiers against Italy and Albania.
  • West Ham number one Adrian, Barcelona striker Paco Alcacer and Real Madrid starlet Marco Asensio are also out.
  • Andres Iniesta and Isco return after missing the last call-up due to injuries.

Manchester United playmaker Juan Mata, Chelsea full-back Cesar Azpilicueta, Barcelona summer signing Paco Alcacer, Real Madrid starlet Marco Asensio, Borussia Dortmund's Marc Batra and West Ham goalie Adrian are among the biggest names left out of the Spain squad for forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Italy (6 October) and Albania (9 October).

The five all made the 24-man list for new Spain boss Julen Lopetegui for the last month's internationals against Belgium and Liechtenstein – the first games following a disappointing Euro 2016 under Vicente Del Bosque.

However, the former Porto manager has overlooked them for his new 23-man list amid a variety of reasons. Adrian has endured a difficult start to the season at West Ham, Alcacer has barely played since his €30m summer move to Barcelona while Barta has been struggling with an injury in recent days. Asenio has returned to the U21 squad to help in crucial Euro 2017 qualifiers against San Marino and Estonia.

Meanwhile, Mata and Azpilicueta are left out over form concerns.

Sevilla keeper Sergio Rico, Barcelona star Andres Iniesta, Napoli's in-form winger Jose Callejon, Real Madrid playmaker Isco and his teammate Nacho are the five new players in the squad. Iniesta and Isco missed the last internationals due to injury.

The four Premier League players involved are Manchester United's David De Gea, Chelsea's Diego Costa, David Silva and Nolito, with the latter pair having animpressive start to life under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

Elsewhere the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Pedro and Santi Cazorla remain out of Lopetegui's plans.

Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin has been named in the U21 side alongside Everton's Gerard Deulofeu, as Barcelona's versatile Sergi Roberto and Real Madrid's Dani Caravajal are Lopetegui's choices to cover the right-back.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are the clubs with the most representatives in the squad, with five players from each side. This has raised some questions in Spain over the inclusion of Nacho, Isco, Lucas Vazquez and Alvaro Morata, as the quartet are not regular starters for Zinedine Zidane at the Santiago Bernabeu.