AFTER Spain released their provisional squad for Euro 2024 , it may come as a surprise to some Newcastle United fans that three of the club's former players feature within the list.
Mikel Merino, Ayoze Perez and Joselu were all named in Spain's provisional squad for the forthcoming tournament in Germany after having performed well in recent appearances for their respective clubs.
Former Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez signed both Merino and Joselu ,whereas Perez joined in the Alan Pardew era. However, Perez did play under Benitez and found form under the Spaniard before ultimately signing for Leicester.
Some Newcastle fans may be surprised to see Merino and Joselu make the squad, with the pair having failed to make a real impact on the Newcastle team despite making a combined 71 appearances for the club.
Joselu played 46 league games for Newcastle but managed just six goals. However, he has made a dramatic turnaround in his career after joining Spanish giants Real Madrid.
The Spanish striker has started 15 games in La Liga this season and registered ten goals and two assists. Recently, he was the star in a late comeback in the Champions League against German side, Bayern Munich, as he scored two very late goals to turn the semi-final in Real's favour.
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Merino now plays for Real Sociedad, who are also in La Liga, where he has started 27 games and registered five goals and three assists as well as playing in the Champions League knockout stages.
Despite a better career at Newcastle than the other two, and having had a good finish to his Magpies career, many people may still be surprised to see Perez featuring for Spain.
The forward played 143 Premier League games on Tyneside and scored 33 goals. However, after a disappointing spell at Leicester it would be hard to have predicted a place in his national side just two years later.
This season, he has started 29 games, scoring nine goals in the league, for Spanish side Real Betis. He also scored two Europa League goals for Betis, with his form having been good enough to earn him an international call-up.
At this stage, the Spain squad is only provisional, with the 29-man group having to be whittled down to a maximum of 26 by June 7.
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