Football
Adriana Garcia 4y

Spain boss Moreno considered selecting Barcelona star Ansu in squad for Euro 2020 qualifiers

Spain coach Robert Moreno has said he considered selecting Barcelona sensation Ansu Fati for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Norway and Sweden.

The 16-year-old forward has been left out of both Spain's under-21 squad and the senior team for bureaucratic reasons.

- Euro 2020 qualifying: All you need to know

"Allow me to speak as an exception about a player who has not been selected because I believe it's a special case that has to be dealt with in an honest way," Moreno said of Ansu in Friday's news conference. "I considered calling him up and he was in the preliminary squad. 

"We thought it [to be selected] would be good for his performances. We evaluated but then there were a series of events that happened. Besides the bureaucratic issue, he then got injured and that meant that we could not call him up."

The Guinea-Bissau born player recently acquired Spanish nationality after spending 10 years in the country.

However, reports in Spain suggested family documents which are required by FIFA are still missing in order for the player to be eligible to play for La Roja.

Ansu became Barca's youngest ever goalscorer in La Liga in August against Osasuna and the youngest ever player to debut in a UEFA competition against Borussia Dortmund last month. The Spanish FA wanted Ansu to compete at the U17 World Cup that will be staged in Brazil.

He has missed Barca's last two games with a knee injury reportedly related to growth pains but returned to training on Thursday.

Spain U21 coach Luis de la Fuente also said he was interested in having Ansu in his squad for the upcoming international friendly against Germany and the European U21 qualifier at Montenegro.

"Ansu Fati is not in the squad because, for the time being, he cannot be selected," De la Fuente said in Friday's news conference. "Once he is, we will evaluate it.

"I knew that he wouldn't be available for selection last night when I made the list because the legal issues had not been sorted. Had he been eligible for selection, he would have the necessary requirements to be with us."

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