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

#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.