Gerardo Martino has somewhat surprisingly named River Plate midfielder, Matías Kranevitter, Atlético Madrid forward, Ángel Correa and San Lorenzo defender Emmanuel Más in his Argentina squad for the forthcoming friendlies against Bolivia and México. The withdrawals of Pablo Zabaleta, Javier Pastore and Lucas Biglia through injury have forced Martino to rethink his plans for the trip to the United States.

Argentina are scheduled to play Bolivia in Houston on September 4th and México in Dallas four days later (although the Bolivian FA are stating they are yet to receive payment for the fixture and cannot afford to travel) and there may well be a debutant in these matches with the inclusion of Kranevitter, Correa and Más.

Kranevitter and Correa should perhaps have been looked at originally given that they are two players destined for futures with the national side and would benefit from the experience in this post Copa América/progression towards the World Cup in 2018.

The two may well be teammates at Atlético Madrid soon with Correa already having made the move from San Lorenzo and Kranevitter arriving in Spain this week to sign a deal which will see him swap River Plate for Los Colchoneros at the end of the year.

Kranevitter is a natural replacement for the injured Lucas Biglia given that he operates in front of the defence and would appear to have all the attributes to be a long-term solution to Argentina’s central midfield. A natural ball winner and efficient passer of the ball, Kranevitter could be the number five for years to come and certainly someone that Argentina should be looking to in Russia.

Correa made his competitive debut for Atlético Madrid at the weekend after a difficult 18 months which saw the 20-year-old recover from heart surgery immediately after signing from San Lorenzo. Since returing to action, Correa has dazzled as captain of the Argentina under-20s and led Humberto Grondona’s side to the Campeonato Sudamericano at the start of the year. His career in Europe is only just beginning but he has already shown enough potential to be a player capable of a huge future.

The inclusion of San Lorenzo defender Emmanuel Más is more of a surprise. The 26-year-old is a trusted part of Edgardo Bauza’s side and helped Los Cuervos lift the Copa Libertadores title in 2014 but did not appear on the radar for an international call. Whole-hearted and hard working, Más will bring an excellent work ethic to the squad but given that he is a left-back at club level it would appear odd that Martino would opt to choose him when Pablo Zabaleta (Argentina’s right-back) is the player missing.

Kranevitter and Correa provide reason for optimism and are an example of players that Martino should have been looking at prior to injuries. There are several others that Argentina could call upon and ahead of a busy 2016 Martino will hopefully begin introducing some of them sooner rather than later.