"Diego was living an atypical situation because he couldn't compete for a while. We were honest with him and as sincere as possible, as with all the players, to maintain a good relationship between the coach and player".
"We assume his return with normality and naturalness," Lopetegui said about the Atletico Madrid striker.
The last match that Costa had played for Spain was June 11 2017 in Skopje, where he scored in the 2-1 triumph over Macedonia, before revealing that he had received a message from manager Antonio Conte stating that he was no longer wanted at Chelsea.
The 29-year-old then faced an extended break from football until he managed to secure his return to Atletico, who had to wait six months until their transfer ban to be lifted.
During that time, Lopetegui kept the door open for the striker at Spain, who has no doubt earnt the recall with his recent performances.
As a result, Costa is in the squad to face Germany on Friday and Argentina four days later and will hope to restart his international career going into the World Cup in the summer.