World Cup 2022: De Gea Omitted In 55-Man Provisional List For Spain

Manchester United's David de Gea has been omitted from Spanish national team selection despite five goalkeepers in the 55-man provisional squad list.

Spanish boss Luis Enrique has submitted his preliminary list of players in contention to play at the tournament, which his final 26-man squad will be selected from.

Despite the large squad size, there is still no place for United's de Gea who has been overlooked for three other Premier League goalkeepers.

According to AS, Enrique has selected five different goalkeepers in the 55-man list but de Gea is not one of them.

The three goalkeepers expected to fly to Qatar are Athletic Bilbao's Unai Simón, Brighton's Robert Sánchez and Brentford's David Raya.

Meanwhile, Chelsea's Kepa Arrizabalaga and Getafe's David Soria have been chosen as back-ups in case of any injuries or illnesses prior to the tournament.

The former's inclusion in the squad may come as a surprise considering he has played half as many Premier League games this season compared to De Gea.

The only other known players that have made Spain's list are full-backs Alejandro Balde, Jordi Alba and Jose Gaya.  

De Gea's omission will come as a surprise to some - given his long history playing for the national side - but his exclusion has been in the making for a number of years now.

He's not been in a Spain national squad since their 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Sweden in November last year where he was an unused substitute.

And you'd have to go back to two years to find De Gea's last start for Spain. He played the full 90 minutes as Enrique's side lost 1-0 to Ukraine in a Nations League match in 2020.