Spain boss Luis Enrique has said that his decision to name Barcelona attacker Ansu Fati in his squad for the 2022 World Cup was a 'last-minute call'.
The 20-year-old was not involved in the La Roja squad in September due to his struggles for starts in the opening weeks of the 2022-23 campaign.
Fati has been a regular at club level of late, though, contributing three goals and three assists in 20 appearances for Xavi's side in all competitions.
The attacker will be present at the tournament in Qatar, but the Spain boss has conceded that he "had doubts until the last second" due to the player's previous injury problems.
"It had been one of the doubts until the last minute. We bet on him before others. Ansu's level is unquestionable. He has gone through a difficult process. I had doubts until the last second," said the manager.
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"The hope that I have in recovering the best version of Ansu has influenced me. Is he close? We'll see. Watching him train, I'll see. At Barca, he has played more, but he hasn't become a fixture because of the competition."
There are seven players from Barcelona in the squad, with Eric Garcia, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Gavi, Pedri and Ferran Torres joining Fati in the selection.
However, Enrique has insisted that he never considers which club a player represents before making his decision on their spot in the squad.
"I don't look at what club they are from, nor do I intend to base myself on a team. I don't look at the number of players from each club, the age, etc. I look at the values that we ask for to compete in our team," he added.
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Busquets will captain Spain at the competition in Qatar, and Enrique has said that the midfielder could also play at the 2026 World Cup despite the fact that he will be 38 years old.
"My goal is to convince Busquets to play in another World Cup. I am not joking, I don't see a better pivot in the world than Busi for our system," he added.
Spain will play a pre-tournament friendly against Jordan on November 17 before opening their World Cup campaign against Costa Rica on November 23.
The 2010 World Cup winners, who were eliminated in the last-16 stage of the 2018 competition, will also take on Germany and Japan in Group E.
Matt Law
