5 Premier League players who may not make Spain's World Cup squad

After the slow and often painful-to-watch ending of the Vicente Del Bosque era (the abysmal World Cup defence in 2014 and the slightly less embarrassing slogfest that was Euro 2016), new manager Julen Lopetegui seems to have brought a new lease of life to the Spanish national team.

La Furia Roja scaled through qualifying easily making short work of its group opponents which included an admittedly poor Italy side and have looked good in recent friendlies with the team beginning to play something close to the glorious football that was played at Euro 2008 under the late Luis Aragones

The Premier League has now become the second league of choice for Spanish talent as the wealth and the eagerness of fans and managers to lap up the special qualities of the Spaniards has meant that quite a number of La Roja regulars in recent times have plied their trade on English soil.

By the lofty standards of years gone by, this season has seen a lot of mediocrity among the Premier League-based Spanish contingent and with the exception of Manchester United's David de Gea and Chelsea's Cesar Azpilicueta, no other England-based Spaniard can be said to be confident of being in manager Lopetegui's final 23-man list.

Here is a look at 5 "top" Spanish players in the Premier League who may miss the plane to Russia:

#5 Hector Bellerin (Arsenal)

The Arsenal man has had a torrid season and may not make it to Russia

The Barcelona-born and trained right-back has had an appalling season and his chances of making the squad for the World Cup are negligible.

He has been a shadow of the rampaging ball of fury that forcefully made the Arsenal right-back position his when he burst unto the scene for the Gunners in 2014.

His pace, intelligence and ability to make the right decisions had a lot of pundits in Spain believing that he could edge out his competitors in the national team at that time: Juanfran (Atletico Madrid) and Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid) and become Spain's right-back of choice.

Fast forward to the present time and while Juanfran is done, Carvajal has gone from strength to strength and is now one of the best right-backs in the world as well as Lopetegui's first choice.

To make matters worse for the 23-year-old Arsenal star, the emergence of young Spain-based talent like Alvaro Odriozola (Real Sociedad) means the competition is now fiercer and if the manager chooses to play Chelsea's Azpilicueta as a right back and not a centre back, then Bellerin might as well focus on making the squad to Euro 2020.

#4 Juan Mata (Manchester United)

Mata's days as a player for La Furia Roja are numbered

It is almost certain that the petite and eminently likeable Mata is no longer on the radar for the national team and based on his form in the last 3 seasons, nobody will blame the manager for overlooking the Old Trafford star.

Ever since the former Real Madrid starlet was forced out of Chelsea by Jose Mourinho (his current manager at United), Mata has become a shadow of the elf-like but super brilliant player who was majestic at Valencia and Chelsea and who usually did the business for La Roja whenever he was called upon (which wasn't very often).

He has become slow and ponderous with his contributions decreasing by the season and has looked just as mediocre as a lot of his fellow Red Devils this season.

He has not been included in any of Spain's squads for almost two years now and with the quality of midfielders at Lopetegui's disposal (as well as the many young ones who won't make it to the World Cup), the 31-year-old might as well call it a day as far as national team football is concerned

#3 Marcos Alonso (Chelsea)

One of the better Spaniards in the Premier League this season, Alonso's chances are slim

It seems unfair to say a player who has been a crucial part of the Blues squad since he joined last season may not make the Spanish squad to the World Cup but unless the manager has specific plans to play in a system that would suit the left-sided Chelsea player, Alonso may have to make do with cheering from his sofa when Russia 2018 comes around.

While he has been a success for Antonio Conte's side since his £24m move from Fiorentina last season, his lack of pace and ability to stretch the game may hinder his effectiveness for a La Roja side that usually relies on the fullbacks to provide the width and bodies on the flanks for the creative midfielders to find.

Furthermore, while Alonso has thrived in a wingback role as he usually has Azpilicueta to cover for him behind at Stamford Bridge, Lopetegui plays with a back four which means the 27-year-old struggle against speedy wingers like Portugal's Gelson Martins at the World Cup (the Iberian neighbours are both in Group B at the Mundial)

Barcelona's Jordi Alba has the first team spot locked down but behind him, there are quite a number of younger, faster left-full backs knocking at the door like José Luis Gayà (Valencia) or Aarón Martín (Espanyol).

The Chelsea man only made his debut against Argentina in a recent friendly (the third Alonso to play for La Roja after his grandfather and father) so it is difficult at the moment to see how he will make the squad.

#2 Pedro Rodriguez (Chelsea)

Pedro has had a forgettable season and will be nowhere near the World Cup squad

It is difficult to say which ex-Barcelona but current Chelsea player has had a bigger fall from grace to grass: Pedro or teammate Cesc Fabregas.

As one of the very few Spanish wingers who were semi-regular for a top club in the last years of the Del Bosque era, the 30-year-old was one of the first names on the former Real Madrid manager's team sheet as his directness and pace offered the team an outlet for stretching the opposition and attacking in a style different from its usual death-by-a-thousand-passes.

Pedro played a starring role for the Blues last season as his consistent goalscoring, assists, running and general team play helped the team immensely in its record-breaking campaign which ended in its winning the Premier League title.

The emergence of players like Marco Asensio and Lucas Vázquez (Real Madrid), José Callejón (Napoli) as well as other young wing talents like Iñaki Williams (Athletic Bilbao) means the Chelsea man is no longer guaranteed a place in the Spanish set-up.

His performances this season have been abysmal as he has offered little to his club's defence of the title they won last season. It will come as a major shock if he gets anywhere near the team going to Russia for the World Cup.

#1 Álvaro Morata (Chelsea)

Morata will need to hit top form again for the Blues if he wants to be in Russia

Less than a year ago, the doe-eyed native of Madrid was looked upon as Spain's favourite striker as the nation was desperate for a top-class finisher which the side had missed since the heady days of Fernando Torres, David Villa and a host of reliable backup options like Dani Guiza, Fernando Llorente and many more.

Coming off the Real Madrid bench, the 25-year-old scored a number of crucial goals last season which convinced most watchers that he could do more if given regular playing time.

This convinced Chelsea to pay a club-record amount for his signature in the hope that he would effectively replace countryman Diego Costa who had made his intentions to leave quite clear. He started brightly enough and was being hailed as a fantastic buy after about 10 games.

Since then, his form has dropped off alarmingly as a mixture of injuries, poor form and a weak attitude have made him underperform. This sad state of affairs saw him dropped by Spain's manager from the last round of friendly games.

Lopetegui has always been a big believer in Morata's talent as the striker's performances at club level were undeserving of a national call-up.

The return to form of Costa as well as the continuing excellence of Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo) has meant that La Roja now have good striking options which may be the kiss of death for Morata's World Cup hopes unless he goes on a rich run of form between now and when the Premier League ends in May.