For the second successive international break, Real Madrid have no players in Luis de la Fuente’s Spain squad. Dani Carvajal was the only regular inclusion for La Roja, but after his season-ending knee injury, it has left Los Blancos without a regular Spanish international in their first team setup.

After the summer departures of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Nacho Fernandez and Joselu Mato, as well as youngster Rafa Marin, Real Madrid now only have four core members of their first team squad that are Spanish: Carvajal, Lucas Vazquez, Fran Garcia and Jesus Vallejo. For the club’s hierarchy, this is unacceptable.

As a result, Relief say that Real Madrid will target signing more Spanish players in the coming years, as they aim to re-establish a national identity. As things stand, there are three current La Roja stars on their radar: Pedro Porro, Aymeric Laporte and Rodri Hernandez. However, it is far from guaranteed that they will sign any of those three.

It remains to be seen who Real Madrid target in the coming years, but it has become clear that they should have a strong core of Spanish players in their squad.