Real Madrid star was dropped from Spain squad for non-sporting reasons

With Nacho Fernandez and Joselu Mato leaving, and Dani Carvajal injured, the recent Spain squads have been depleted of Real Madrid representation in a manner that has been rare throughout La Roja’s history. However with the performances of Dani Ceballos and Raul Asencio in recent months, they have hopes of both being called up by Luis de la Fuente for their March international break.

Ceballos was in de la Fuente’s first squad as Spain manager, but did not feature again for Spain after that. Last season that was mostly due to his lack of game time for Real Madrid, but Cadena SER report that his absence from their Nations League squad in 2024, and lack of call-ups since, were not purely down to sporting reasons.

At the time it was reported that tensions had risen between Ceballos and Barcelona star Gavi, but that argument had little to do with the Real Madrid man being dropped. During an autographs session, Gavi did not appear alongside his teammates, something that the Spain captains and management reprimanded him for, and the then teenage midfielder admitted his mistake.

However Ceballos ran into issues after this information was leaked to the press, alongside another report that questioned Gavi’s attitude, which was attibuted to Ceballos. It was understood by the captains and management that even if Gavi had made a mistake, the youngster should be protected, while Ceballos had intentionally leaked the information in order to damage Gavi’s chances of selection. This has supposedly been confirmed by Spain’s captains off the record.

Barça are exploring a FIFA loophole to sell Vitor Roque to Palmeiras before Brazil’s transfer window closes on Friday. Selling Roque for €25m would help Barça balance finances and secure contract renewals for Iñigo Martínez and Lamine Yamal. @ffpolo, @RogerTorello

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) February 24, 2025

However that incident, now nearly two years in the past, has been forgotten, and Ceballos is once again on the table as an option for de la Fuente. It is noted that due to their performances over the season, Gavi, Oihan Sancet and Marc Casado are stiff competition for Ceballos to earn a call-up. Martin Zubimendi, Pedri, Alex Baena, Fabian Ruiz and Mikel Merino are all considered integral members of the squad.

For his part, Ceballos has maintained that his relationship with Gavi is good, as he did at the time. He also insists he has been ‘respectful’ with his colleagues and always will be. The 28-year-old has played 29 times this season, giving two assists in his 1,402 minutes on the pitch. In recent weeks he has played a starring role for Carlo Ancelotti though, helping to control games for Real Madrid.