Diego Costa vs. Alvaro Negredo: Who Should Spain's Vicente Del Bosque Start For Upcoming Friendlies?

For the last month, Spain has repeatedly tried to convince Diego Costa to join the national team to presumably fill in the squad's constantly vacant striker spot. The team has finally won him, but Costa may face a greater challenge to win the starting spot for the team — Alvaro Negredo.

Back in 2012, Alvaro Negredo was given a chance to play against Portugal in the semi-finals. He did not play for the entire game and was largely ineffective. Negredo's spot with the Spanish squad was in doubt for the better part of a year, but the Manchester City striker has slowly established himself as the best Spanish striker in the world. His latest performance, a terrific three-goal effort against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League, was easily his best of an already terrific season.

Negredo has scored five goals in his last three games and has four tallies in 10 Premier League games. The more important statistic for Spain, however, may be the two goals he scored in the recent World Cup qualifiers. His header against Belarus and his terrific finish on a tic-tac-toe play against Georgia proved that he was finding chemistry with his countrymen and could be the man moving forward.

Costa has far more appealing stats (13 goals in 12 Spanish League games), but he has not played with any Spanish stars to date. Del Bosque may opt to keep him on the bench and introduce him slowly during the upcoming friendly matches.

Is there a chance that Del Bosque utilizes both players on the field? He did use two strikers in the 2010 World Cup, but his team was in better form. To make this work, he would likely have to do one of two things. He could start a 4-1-3-2 formation with only one pivot. That would mean that Xabi Alonso would likely sit for the time being. Del Bosque could go with a much riskier 4-4-2 and leave out Cesc Fabregas, Pedro, David Silva and Jesus Navas from his starting 11. This is more uncharacteristic and unlikely for Del Bosque who is loyal to the players that have given him years of service.

The drama will be an interesting one for sure. Regardless of the ultimate winner, Spaniards can rejoice — the team finally has in-form strikers.