Chelsea striker Diego Costa has been omitted from Spain’s provisional squad for Euro 2016 as the holders plot to defend their trophy this summer.
Manager Vicente del Bosque has also chosen not to include fellow big names Atletico Madrid forward Fernando Torres, Manchester United mid fielder Juan Mata and Arsenal star Santi Cazorla.
Cesc Fabregas, Pedro, Cesar Azpilicueta, David Silva and goalkeeper David de Gea are among the Premier League-based players included in the list of 25.
Spain, who are in Group D alongside Czech Republic, Turkey and Croatia, will be bidding to retain the title they won by beating Italy 4-0 in 2012.
They have a series of friendlies against Bosnia, South Korea and Georgia pencilled in before their trip to France.
The snub will come as a blow to Costa, who has hit 12 goals (16 in total) since the second-coming of Guus Hiddink in December and has looked something like the presence that arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2014.
Having appeared alarmingly off the pace in the early stages of the season, his form, along with that of the rest of the Chelsea side, culminated in the sacking of Jose Mourinho and the worst title defence of any champions in top-flight history.
With his national allegiance the topic of much discussion ahead of the last tournament following the switch from his native Brazil, Costa has found goals at international level harder to come by, scoring only once in a qualifying match against Luxembourg.
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