The summer of 2024 presents itself as an interesting time for Spanish football. Domestically, Real Madrid are chasing the Champions League for a record 15th time, and even structurally, there looks to be exciting times ahead for La Roja’s reputation.

The legendary Vicente del Bosque was recently announced as the man to lead the newly created Superior Sports Council (CSD). In particular, he’ll oversee the new commission of “supervision, normalisation and representation” as part of a bid to reform Spanish football. While his involvement among the top brass will likely delve into a wealth of knowledge, his employment arrives at a time when the national team would no doubt love to replicate the form of the group he managed between 2008 and 2016.

Although the greats of yesteryear have come and gone, there are new stars who could prove pivotal in potentially winning the tournament in Germany. Under manager Luis de la Fuente, this current crop have tasted glory before with the Nations League victory of 2023 and have star-studded ranks that will wish to chase success once more amid the superlative pack that are the bookies’ favourites of England, France, Germany, and Portugal. Plus, after Round of 16 failure at the hands of Morocco, Spain will likely take to the Euros looking to put things right.

So, who exactly do Spain have that may be inspired by the triumphs of the World Cup in 2010 and the Euros of 2012? Read on, as GIVEMESPORT provides the top 15 players at the disposal of the three-time European champions.

15Ferran Torres

Ferran Torres battled back from a two-month absence at the end of March. The former Manchester City man had been sidelined with a hamstring injury since January, yet re-entered the fray against Las Palmas before racking up a decent final few appearances of the season.

Although he didn’t get on the scoresheet after returning from injury, he showed glimpses of his undeniable quality. The 24-year-old ended the LaLiga campaign with seven goals and three assists from 28 appearances for the Blaugrana – most notably scoring a hat-trick against Real Betis in Seville. He may be a good option for Spain from the bench.

14Pau Cubarsi

Pau Cubarsi features after an exciting debut season with Barcelona. Alongside Lamine Yamal, who we’ll get to shortly, Cubarsi has been working away at a highlight reel that makes Gavi and Pedri feel firmly like a part of the furniture. He’s already featured twice for the national team after Xavi’s inclusion of the 17-year-old for Barca reaped massive personal rewards.

The biggest highlight for Cubarsi this season came in the Champions League last 16 against Napoli, when the teen pocketed one of the most feared forwards of this generation, Victor Osimhen, with his astute defending and composure in the 3-1 win. Cutting his teeth further against La Liga’s plethora of stars, it could point to further appearances at the Euros this summer as De La Fuente mixes experience with youth.

13David Raya

David Raya’s rise to the top has been excellent viewing for the football romantics, as in just a few seasons the agile stopper has evolved from a Championship level pro at Blackburn Rovers and Brentford, before going on to become a Premier League regular with the latter and then moving to Arsenal on loan this season.

With the Gunners, Raya played superbly, and racked up a superlative 16 clean sheets in 32 outings. While Arsenal were just beaten to the title by Manchester City, unfortunately for the Premier League Golden Glove-winning Raya, he too gets pipped by the Spanish team’s starting goalkeeper who sits a place above him in this list.

12Unai Simon

Unai Simon beats Raya in this list as he is currently Spain’s number one. Furthermore, it seems that he’ll likely retain that position after this season’s outstanding personal performances. In the league he ended as the best goalkeeper – keeping 17 clean sheets in 35 games, beating the likes of Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Jan Oblak.

Additionally, personal glory came for the 43-times capped Basque stopper, as Athletic Bilbao won the Copa del Rey to end a 40-year trophy drought. Although it was back-up keeper Julen Agirrezabala who took the plaudits with two saved penalties in the final, there’s no doubt that Simon played a big part in the side, as he celebrated with his understudy.

11. Pedro Porro

The younger brother of teammate Inaki, 21-year-old Nico Williams has joined his sibling in representing Athletic Bilbao proudly. The now-established winger utilises jaw-dropping pace and dribbling skills to burst past markers, and has arguably had his most impressive individual season yet.

Just in time for the Euros, Williams has intertwined the glory of his Copa del Rey victory, in which he got three goals and five assists in a mere six games, with La Liga performances. As Bilbao finished fifth, he notched four goals but turned heads as a supplementary figure with 12 assists from the right side, as the second-best creator this term. Considering Spain’s forward options, the €50million-rated man could be integral in carving out big chances for his team.

9. Alex Grimaldo

Alex Grimaldo was an integral cog in Xabi Alonso’s invincible Bayer Leverkusen side and provided some unbelievable numbers from the left wing-back position. As Die Werkself romped to an historic first Bundesliga title, Grimaldo registered 23 direct goal involvements in 33 games – with ten goals and 13 assists.

Two of these were a magnificent representation of his wand-like left-foot, as he scored direct free-kicks against Bayern Munich and Mainz.

Although not ranking higher in this list purely down to his two caps so far, Grimaldo has shown similar tenacity to Dani Olmo and taken a route less travelled to get to the top. He left Barcelona’s academy in 2015 and plied his trade with Benfica, winning four league titles amid nine honours before moving to the BayArena at the start of this season. Reaching his prime at 28, it looks like Grimaldo could offer Spain a fantastic dynamic for the next several years.

8. Mikel Oyarzabal

The Real Sociedad captain has been a leading light for his side from the left wing and a big reason why the San Sebastian club have been in Europe consistently for the last few seasons. After a brilliant breakthrough back in 2017/18 that saw 12 goals and five assists in 35 games, Oyarzabal has always been in and around the upper reaches of LaLiga statistics. Since that term, he has scored 56 goals and registered 28 assists in 194 games.

He can transfer these mercurial skills to the national side. For instance, where there was an ultimately victorious goal in the 2020 Copa del Rey final (their first win for 34 years), there was also a goal in the final of the Nations League. Although Spain lost, Oyarzabal possesses a fine record nonetheless – with seven goals in 28 appearances. Entering his prime, Oyarzabal is another fine attacking option as this iteration of La Roja sees an equal spread of talent across the pitch.

7. Alvaro Morata

Similarly to Oryazabal, Alvaro Morata is often seen as a captain. However, similarly to Joselu, Morata has mixed Premier League critics. Regardless, the Atletico Madrid striker, 31, has aged well and looks back on a fine La Liga season as he heads into the Euros to lead the Spanish attack.

After a period during which the forward looked like a bargaining chip for Europe’s elite teams, he has now come into his own and recently equalled his best scoring season in LaLiga with 15 goals in 31 games.

Towards the end of the season, doubts were raised over the striker’s consistency – yet as Morata scored four goals in Euros qualifying, it seems that De La Fuente will keep him in the set-up. Spain’s manager will be hoping Morata can find some momentum with pre-tournament friendlies against Andorra and Northern Ireland.