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MLS, Mexico Star Completes ‘Dream’ Move to Atletico Madrid With World Cup in Sight

The 2025 best young player in MLS will continue his career with one of Spain’s biggest clubs.
Ben Steiner
Obed Vargas turned down an offer to move to Liga MX and is now in talks with European clubs.
Obed Vargas turned down an offer to move to Liga MX and is now in talks with European clubs. / Hector Vivas/FIFA/Getty Images

Obed Vargas has talked about Atlético Madrid as his favorite club growing up, and now the Seattle Sounders and Mexico wonderkid will make his dream of donning the red and white shirt come true, as he completed a move to the La Liga giants on Deadline Day.

Atlético Madrid reached an agreement with Seattle for an undisclosed transfer fee, though plenty of reports suggest the Spanish club paid less than $10 million for the 20-year-old gem. Seattle will also keep a sell-on percentage in the event of a future move.

On Monday, Vargas inked a four-and-a-half year deal with Atléti, valid until the summer of 2030 and he’s already participated in his first training session under Diego Simeone. Speculation suggested Vargas could be sent out on loan upon arrival, but nothing materialized and he’ll be part of Simeone’s ranks for the rest of the term.

During his time with the Sounders, Vargas played over 92 regular-season games, netting six goals and 12 assists. In 2025, he helped the club win the 2025 Leagues Cup, beating Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami in the final. He also featured in arguably the biggest accomplishment in Seattle’s history, when they became the first MLS team in over 20 years to win the Concacaf Champions Cup back in 2022.

The Alaska-born talent, who opted to represent Mexico at the international stage, has been a standout player with the Sounders in MLS since signing as a homegrown player in 2021. Now, he’s the first Seattle academy graduate to make the jump to a top-five European league since DeAndre Yedlin’s move to Tottenham Hotspur in 2014.

With his immense first-division experience and having earned the honor of being ranked as the top player in the annual MLS 22 Under-22 rankings, Vargas has attracted many top clubs from around the world, having rejected a Liga MX move in December in favor of a move to Europe.

“My priority is going to Europe,” Vargas told ESPN earlier this month. “If a move doesn’t happen before that, then the idea is at the end of the year.”

Vargas’s priority was met and then some, as he will now join a team that has always occupied a special place in his heart.

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Vargas’s Atlético Dreams

Despite being from the Alaskan capital of Anchorage and growing up in a time zone not overly friendly to following European soccer, Vargas has been a longtime fan of Atlético Madrid—and had previously spoken of his fondness for the club before the potential move came into the picture. 

At the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, he played 90 minutes in the Sounders’ 3–1 loss against Atlético at Lumen Field, before swapping shirts with his childhood idol and longtime Atléti star, Antoine Griezmann.

“Atlético de Madrid, they’re underdogs, all the time. And when I lived in Alaska, I started watching them, especially in the 2014 Champions League final,” Vargas told the Sounders’ website. “And I think it correlates with my own story ... I identify myself with that, coming from Alaska, of having to fight through moving, and an Academy team, second team, a national team ... I think it’s been my mentality all the way through my career.”

Following Vargas’s showing against Atléti last summer, he was asked if he thought he could one day play for Los Rojiblancos. “I hope so,” Vargas said. “I think that if I keep doing things well, one day I will be able to.”

That day has come and Vargas will now try to start a successful career with the club of his dreams. If he’s able to have a strong start to his time in Spain, then he could also achieve another dream this summer.

Vargas Targeting Maiden World Cup Appearance with El Tri

Obed Vargas and Gilberto Mora
Obed Vargas (left) and Gilberto Mora are the face of Mexico’s exciting new crop of young talents. / Alika Jenner/Leagues Cup/MLSGetty Images

Vargas is one of the players fighting for a spot in Javier Aguirre’s World Cup roster. His place in the tournament is far from guaranteed, but if he plays regularly for Atléti in the second half of the term, it’ll be extremely hard for Aguirre to opt against including Vargas in his final roster.

But the scenario is easier said than done; Vargas will face strong competition for minutes in Atléti’s midfield. Pablo Barrios, Koke, Johnny Cardoso and fellow new signing Rodrigo Mendoza are all threats to Vargas’s minutes upon his arrival to Madrid.

Still, Vargas has plenty of experience and the intensity and physicality of MLS is something that prepared him for a move to La Liga, where he could adapt relatively fast and, as a result, get consistent playing time.

It’s not unrealistic to imagine Vargas joining close friend and fellow Mexican wonderkid Gilberto Mora as a pair of World Cup debutants this summer. They both have showcased they can be valuable contributors for El Tri.

But even if Vargas fails to sneak into Aguirre’s roster, his transfer to Atletico Madrid is further proof of his sky-high potential, and he, alongside Mora, appear destined to spearhead El Tri’s new generation of exciting young talents that could take over the national team come the 2030 World Cup.

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