Marcos Alonso said his Chelsea team-mate Alvaro Morata was not happy to be left out of the Spain squad for their upcoming friendlies.
Alonso, who has received his first international call-up at the age of 27, was speaking ahead of Spain’s fixtures against Germany and Argentina.
Morata has endured a frustrating spell with Chelsea, having failed to score in the Premier League in 2018 and been left on the bench for the last three league outings.
He netted for Chelsea in the FA Cup win at Leicester on Sunday, however, and will hope to win back favour with Spain boss Julen Lopetegui before the World Cup in the summer.
“Obviously Alvaro wasn’t happy,” Alonso said in Spain’s Tuesday press conference, according to Marca.
Morata had broken his barren spell in win against Leicester.
“He’s had a couple of difficult months because of a back problem. He’s now 100 per cent, the other day he returned to scoring. He’s very important and I hope he is in the World Cup.”
On his own Spain call, Alonso said: “Whether it’s been delayed or not, the important thing is that I’m here.”
Alonso played under Lopetegui early in his career while with Real Madrid Castilla, the club’s reserve team, and is relishing their reunion.
“It’s an opportunity to show what I can do,” Alonso said. “The coach knows me well from my time at Castilla and from all these years, and I’m sure he continues to follow all the Spanish players.”