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 ...

who plays as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Chinese club Shanghai Port.

Career

Vélez Sarsfield

Vargas started his professional career with Vélez Sarsfield under

Miguel Ángel Russo Miguel Ángel Russo (born 9 April 1956) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is the current manager of Rosario Central. Playing career Club career Russo was a one club man; ...

'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 i ...

. 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 1935.2016–17 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. ...

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 simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

side

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

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 (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

third qualifying round as a substitute and also scored a goal in a 3–0 win against Luzern. On 25 August 2021, Vargas was loaned to Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

side

Adana Demirspor Adana Demirspor Kulübü is a sports club based in Adana, Turkey. Founded by railway workers in 1940, the club is competitive in football, watersports, racquet sports and martial arts. Football team's thriving success at the Adana League and the ...

, for one year.

Shanghai Port

On 24 August 2022, Espanyol transferred Vargas to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional association ...

side Shanghai Port for a fee of around £3.5 million.

International career

Vargas made his international debut for

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on 7 September 2018 in a 3–0 win against Guatemala.

Personal life

Vargas' father

Omar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...

, nicknamed ''Mono'', was a former footballer who played for

San Martín de Mendoza Atlético Club San Martín (popularly known as San Martín de Mendoza) is a football club from the city of San Martín in Mendoza Province, Argentina. The team currently plays in the Torneo Argentino B, which is the regionalised fourth division ...

and

Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza Club Atlético Gimnasia y Esgrima (usually known as Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza) is an Argentine football club located in the city of Mendoza. They currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, the second division of the Argentine football leag ...

, among other teams.

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 Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Adana Demirspor footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Sportspeople from Salta Men's association football wingers Shanghai Port F.C. players Argentine expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate men's footballers in China