Seattle Sounders 2024 Offseason recap - Who is arriving?

Pedro de la Vega

Pedro de la Vega, a 22-year-old attacker, has joined Seattle Sounders FC as a Young Designated Player. He played for Club Atlético Lanús in the Argentine topflight for five seasons, scoring 17 goals and assisting 14 times. He signed a four-year deal with the Rave Green, with a club option for 2028. His move is subject to his P-1 Visa and International Transfer Certificate approval.

De la Vega is the first Young Designated Player in Sounders history and the 17th Designated Player overall since the club joined MLS in 2009. A Young Designated Player is a player who is 23 years old or younger during the season in which he was signed, and whose salary does not count fully against the team's salary budget. This allows teams to sign young and talented players from abroad without affecting their roster flexibility. He will join two other Designated Players in the team: Raúl Ruidíaz and Albert Rusnák.

De la Vega is a product of Lanús, an Argentine Primera División club, where he has played his entire professional career since 2018. He has made 127 appearances (77 starts) for the club in all competitions. In 2023, he had a breakout season, scoring six goals and providing three assists in 25 Liga Profesional matches. He also contributed four assists in 13 Copa de la Liga Profesional matches. His stellar performance came after a 2022 season that was marred by injury, limiting him to only one match.

De la Vega made his first appearance for the Argentina National Team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he played in three matches and started one. Before the Olympics, he had 17 caps for Argentina's U-20 and U-23 teams, scoring a goal against the Saudi Arabia U-23s in a friendly match on June 11, 2021.

He began his international career at the age of 17, playing in the 2019 South American U-20 Championship and registering two assists in nine games (six starts) as Argentina finished second. He also participated in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland in 2019, featuring in three games for the Argentina U-20s.