Inigo Martinez has been announced as Spain’s No 6 after Andre Iniesta’s retirement from the national team.
Martinez, who plays for Spanish club Athletic Bilbao was named as Spain’s new number 6 in an official squad list published this week ahead of Nations League games against England and Croatia.
Andres Iniesta famously wore No 6 for Spain before calling time on his international career following this summer’s exit from the World Cup.
Gerard Pique and David Silva also retired from Spain duty this summer and their numbers have been reassigned to Raul Albiol and Dani Ceballos, who will wear No 3 and No 21 respectively. No 7 shirt will be worn by Alvaro Morata, now back in the squad as he was omitted from the team’s World Cup squad. The shirt previously belonged to Saul Ninguez who has switched to No 8.
As reported by Marca, Spain’s most experienced players were allowed to chose their numbers first and 27-year-old Martinez, who only has four caps to his name, was among the last to pick.
La Roja will be up against England on Saturday 8th at Wembley before playing hosts to Croatia in Elche three days later.