Luis de la Fuente must be brave and drop Pedri for Spain at Euro 2024

The Euros are fast approaching this summer, as the club season draws to a close rapidly. With only a month of action to go, and competitions starting to be settled, a number of players will be turning their minds to the Euros, and many managers will be making their decisions.

That will be the case for Spain manager Luis de la Fuente too, who will be crossing and dotting his squad list over the next month, before sending out the final 23 Euro 2024 tickets amongst the Spanish allocation.

Provided he continues to return to fitness, there is little doubt that Barcelona star Pedri should be included in that group. However where de la Fuente must be bold is by leaving him out of his starting line-up. The 21-year-old playmaker is one of Spain’s best talents, and if he had a season of successful assists and defence-splitting passes behind him, then this article would read much differently.

Against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals, Pedri proved he still has the quality to cause serious issues for any side, crafting a sumptuous pass for Raphinha to score from. In the second leg, he demonstrated why his role should primarily be an impact one, as PSG limited him to touches in his own third, mostly backwards.

Spain should not be hemmed in quite like Barcelona were, and Pedri should be fitter, but it remains the case that in the 4-2-3-1 formation de la Fuente favours, Pedri has only played the role behind the striker fleetingly. While on the edge of the box he can be incisive, the Canary Islander plays much better with the game in front of him as things stand – indeed that was the case during Euro 2020, perhaps his best string of performances in his career.

As much as his fitness and fit are factors, more of a factor should be Dani Olmo, Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams. None of the trio are natural strikers, but they represent Spain’s most dangerous attacking players. Williams and Lamine Yamal are major problems for defenders, and will attract plenty of attention, while giving Spain the one-on-one ability they lacked during previous tournaments.

Meanwhile Dani Olmo has earned the right, if fully fit, to become the orchestrator of this Spain side, with Rodri Hernandez and likely Mikel Merino providing him freedom to move as he pleases. The RB Leipzig playmaker has the technique to take advantage of the space he finds, and the understanding of the gamne to locate it. With a settled structure around him, Olmo should be the element that dictates the game this summer, rather than Pedri. Olmo has been performing for Spain consistently for several years now, injury issues aside, and has shown on the Champions League stage himself that he has the quality to give any defence problems.