Martín Matías Ezequiel Vargas (born 8 May 1997), nicknamed Monito (in English: "Little Monkey"), is an Argentine professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

side Al Fateh SC.

Career

Vélez Sarsfield

Vargas started his professional career with Vélez Sarsfield under Miguel Ángel Russo's coaching, entering the field in a 0–0 draw with Colón for the

2015 Argentine Primera División The 2015 Argentine Primera División or Torneo de Primera División 2015 "Julio H. Grondona" was the 125th season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. The season began on February 13 and ended on December 6. Thirty teams competed in ...

. His first game as a starter was against

Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.

for the

2016–17 Argentine Primera División The 2016–17 Argentine Primera División – Torneo de la Independencia was the 127th season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. The tournament was named in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Independence of Argentina. T ...

under Omar De Felippe's coaching, in which he scored a goal to help his team to a 2–1 victory. He went on to play 16 games (13 as a starter) in the season, scoring four goals.

Espanyol

On 14 July 2019, Vargas joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

on a five-year deal, for a reported club record fee of €10.5 million. He made his competitive debut in

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

third qualifying round as a substitute and also scored a goal in a 3–0 win against

Luzern Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

. On 25 August 2021, Vargas was loaned to Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

side Adana Demirspor, for one year.

Shanghai Port

On 24 August 2022, Espanyol transferred Vargas to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

side Shanghai Port for a fee of around £3.5 million. On 27 December 2024, Shanghai Port announced that Vargas is leaving the club as a free agent.

Al Fateh

On 8 January 2025, Vargas joined

side Al Fateh for free.

International career

Vargas made his international debut for

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

on 7 September 2018 in a 3–0 win against

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Personal life

Vargas' father Omar, nicknamed ''Mono'', was a former footballer who played for San Martín de Mendoza and Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza, among other teams.

Career statistics

Honours

Espanyol *

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

: 2020–21 Shanghai Port *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. The current holders are Shanghai Port, having beaten Shandong Taishan in 2024 for their first title. H ...

Individual *

top assist provider: 2021–22

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Matías Argentine men's footballers 1997 births Living people Argentina men's international footballers Argentine Primera División players La Liga players Segunda División players Süper Lig players Saudi Pro League players Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Adana Demirspor footballers Shanghai Port F.C. players Al Fateh SC players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Argentine expatriate sportspeople in China Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Footballers from Salta Men's association football wingers 21st-century Argentine sportsmen