Scouting Obed Vargas: The Seattle Sounders and rising Mexico star with 'no ceiling' drawing interest from 'every club in the world' at Club World Cup

As a teenager in Anchorage, Vargas played for his local Cook Inlet Soccer Club, winning four State Cups, but the competition level was never at a point where Vargas really thought he could become the footballer he has become, present day.

“Growing up playing soccer in Alaska is definitely unique,” Vargas told Major League Soccer's Breakaway. “It's not the same as everywhere else. Not as many teams. Not as [much] competition. There are maybe four or five teams in the whole state. “And you could tell, the level in Alaska wasn't as high and wasn't as competitive as the lower 48," he added. “And I always knew that … I kind of took [the success] with a grain of salt because, yeah, we were the best team here in Alaska. But once you step out of Alaska, I thought we were going to be the worst. “And so that kind of always kept me grounded, kept me humble because I knew I was the best player here in Alaska. But I didn't know how far that was going to get me.”

At 14, Vargas joined the Sounders academy, leaving his family behind in Alaska to pursue his footballing dreams. In Seattle, he lived with host families as part of the club’s homestay program for their academy players, and that was the start of what has been a special five-plus years.

On July 22, 2021, he made his debut for the club after the Sounders found themselves depleted with 10 first-team players missing due to injuries and international call-ups, and six months later, he was rewarded for his efforts. On Dec. 14, 2021, Vargas signed his first professional deal with the Sounders, and the following 2022 campaign is where he properly announced himself to the rest of MLS - and North American soccer as a whole.

In 2022, the Sounders made a historic run in the CONCACAF Champions League, becoming the first - and still only - MLS team to ever win the competition title. In the second leg of the final against Pumas UNAM, disaster struck early, and less than 30 minutes into the match, things didn't look to be going in Seattle's favor.

Fullback Nouhou Tolo departed the match after just 11 minutes with a thigh injury, and to make matters worse, star midfielder Joao Paulo went down with what was revealed to be a torn ACL, and with limited options on the bench, manager Brian Schmetzer had only one other defensive midfielder available on the bench: 16-year-old Vargas.

A teenager with limited professional experience was thrown into a continental final; it was the risk of all risks from the Sounders' manager, but lucky for him, it paid off. Vargas was inserted into the match and ran the midfield show with ease, looking like a seasoned pro on the pitch as Seattle won the title 5-2 on aggregate.

“It was easy,” Schmetzer said of the decision to throw Vargas into the match after 29 minutes in 2022. “The kid had already played in some big games. He played against León, he played against Motagua.”

It was the moment when all of North America stopped, looked, and realized: this kid is the real deal.

Mind you, that included both the United States and Mexico, as well.

In June 2024, Vargas filed a one-time switch with FIFA from the United States to Mexico. Vargas was on track to represent the USMNT at the 2024 Paris Olympics in 2023, but missed call-ups in the buildup of winter and spring for the competition, with the last straw being an invite to train with the U19 team in June. Thereafter, he filed his switch to represent El Tri, for whom he had eligibility through family heritage.

“Right now, my focus is the Sounders,” Vargas told reporters in Seattle upon declining the invite to the U.S. U19 camp. “My aim was the Olympic team, but I think that door is kinda closed now. For me to go into a U-19 or U-20 camp, I don’t see the point of missing games with the Sounders where I’m playing a lot.”

Since then, Vargas has made one appearance for Mexico, making his debut with the senior team in September 2024.

Vargas excels in driving forward in the middle of the pitch. He facilitates the midfield in transition, and connects both the defense and offense like a CDM should. However, where he really shines is off the ball.

The 19-year-old is a disruptor in the center of the park, and often finds himself winning midfield battles due to perfectly timed runs and near-perfect spatial awareness with an understanding of where the opposition is around him, and where his midfield partner sits as well.

On the attack, he also offers an understanding of how transitional game works and that, as a midfielder, if there's an opportunity, he can drive forward and contribute to the attack. He's shown immense growth in that department to begin 2025, with the perfect example being his goal against St. Louis CITY SC in May.

Despite Vargas being the near-complete package for a teenager, there are also spots where there are noticeable gaps in his game. He lacks size, so he needs to make up for that with physicality, but where there is a real noticeable gap is in the passing department.

Through 15 MLS matches this season, Vargas has an 88 percent passing completion percentage for short passes - across all of MLS, he's near the top of the list. Across 1,314 minutes, he's completed 693 of 784 attempts, averaging nearly a completed pass per minute on the pitch. Of those 693 completed, not one single one has been a successful cross, per MLS.

It's not a crucial part of a defensive midfielder's game, but transitional long balls and switching fields successfully will often create more possession and/or attacking chances as you drive further up the pitch.

As he grows and develops into a more mature player - whether that's in MLS or abroad - he'll learn to expand his game, and that will likely include a larger understanding of how to play the long game, rather than just the short.

Vargas' game has often been compared to that of current U.S. international Tyler Adams, due to the nature of his development, but also the characteristics he possesses on the pitch.

Across world soccer, defensive midfielders have historically been some of the more sizeable players in the center of the park, with modern-day examples being reigning Ballon d'Or midfielder Rodri, Real Madrid's Aurelien Tchouameni, and FC Bayern Munich's Joao Palhinha. However, in recent years, smaller, more tactical and aggressive CDMs have emerged, creating a new archetype for the role -- like former Italy international Marco Verratti, France's N'Golo Kante, and perhaps the best example for Vargas to look up to, Chelsea's Moises Caicedo.

In the middle of them all, though, sits a player like Adams. Just like Vargas, he stands 5-foot-9, and has never been the biggest player on the pitch, but has consistently been one of the smartest and strongest due to intelligent play and genuine awareness of how to operate in the pocket as a CDM.

Adams left MLS when he was 19, transferring to Red Bull Leipzig in the German Bundesliga, and Vargas, now 19, looks set to be on a near-identical trajectory. They offer a very similar playing style, and both display immense leadership qualities on the pitch. With Adams being a regular with the USMNT and Vargas looking to break into El Tri, it could be a brilliant midfield battle for years to come on the international stage, as well.

Speaking to GOAL in January at MLS media day, Sounders manager Schmetzer noted that Vargas was a player whom he expected teams would be watching at the Club World Cup this summer, knowing that it might be hard to hold onto him past the secondary transfer window.

"Young Obed Vargas, let's just say he has a good game against Atletico Madrid," Schmetzer said. "Let's just see, and does that make his market value go higher?"

In the past six months, the 19-year-old has been the subject of interest from teams in the Netherlands, while recent reports have surfaced claiming both Tigres and Cruz Azul are interested in him, too. However, Marca reports that he is destined for Europe and set to snub the two Liga MX sides.

“In terms of [transferring] Obed, we haven’t received any official offers yet,” Waibel added ahead of Seattle's match against Botafogo. “But too many teams know about him. One of the biggest debates I think a lot of teams are having is: Is he ready to come in and contribute to their team, and do they need him?

He added, "Because of the significance of the investment to bring a player like Obed in, you need to do it with the timing that he’s going to be able to be on the field, and I think that’s a big piece.”

The MLS secondary transfer window opens Thursday, July 24, and runs until Thursday, Aug. 21. Vargas' future in Seattle will remain in question until the end of August. Time will tell where the promising midfielder will ultimately end up.