Luis de la Fuente confirms Spain's interest in Bayer Leverkusen's Miguel

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente confirms his staff are scouting Bayer Leverkusen left-back Miguel Gutiérrez, stating the defender has a real chance to break into the world champion squad.

Bayer Leverkusen's new signing Miguel Gutiérrez is under intense scrutiny from the Spanish national team. Coach Luis de la Fuente confirmed in a detailed statement that his scouting staff are analysing every match of the Bundesliga club to closely monitor the left-back's development.

The 25-year-old Spaniard, who joined Leverkusen from Girona for a fee of 26 million euros in August, has impressed with consistently strong performances. In his first four league matches, he has already registered three assists and scored one goal. Most recently, he was decisive in the 2-0 home win against RB Leipzig, providing an assist and scoring himself. Leverkusen sit fifth in the table with seven points ahead of their upcoming demanding fixtures.

Spain coach confirms scouting

Luis de la Fuente explained the systematic monitoring of the defender to Spanish media. "We follow every game of Bayer Leverkusen," the Spain coach said. "We scout all interesting players in all European top leagues, and Miguel Gutiérrez is definitely one of them." De la Fuente further elaborated that while the competition for places in the national team is extremely high, Gutiérrez has a real and concrete chance to break into the squad of the current world champions due to his current development. The coach emphasised that the door is open for any player who proves himself in a strong league like the Bundesliga.

Gutiérrez's path to the national team

For Miguel Gutiérrez, a call-up would fulfil a long-term dream. He debuted for Spain's U21 national team in 2021 and won Olympic gold with the squad at the Summer Games in Paris two years ago. The defender is aware of the strong competition for his position, where established internationals like Chelsea FC's Marc Cucurella and Bayer Leverkusen's league rivals Bayer 04 Leverkusen's Alejandro Grimaldo are already fixtures. "Of course the national team is my big goal," Gutiérrez said recently in an interview. "But it's difficult because they became world champions and the squad is of the highest quality." His current form for Bayer Leverkusen, reflected in the club's official stats, is in his view the best route there.

The team under coach Xabi Alonso aims to continue the positive momentum from the Leipzig win. Their next away game is on October 10th against sixth-placed FSV Mainz 05. A victory there could help close the five-point gap to the leading group around leaders Borussia Dortmund. The current tight standings show every point is key in the race for international places.