Would Pedro de la Vega be a fit for Atlanta United?

Ahead of Atlanta United’s match on Saturday against the Seattle Sounders, an intriguing report from the Pacific Northwest emerged: according to the well-connected Niko Moreno, who broke the club’s hire of Gonzalo Pineda in 2021, Atlanta are one of two teams interested in acquiring winger Pedro de la Vega on what would be a cash for player trade deal.

de la Vega came to Seattle with fairly high expectations: the Sounders signed him in January 2024 for a reported $7.5 million transfer fee, a club record. And, thus far, it hasn’t been smooth sailing. Injuries hampered him in 2024 as he appeared in just 16 matches (with nine starts) while posting 1g/1a. This season saw him out for four weeks with a quadriceps injury. That’s on top of an ACL he tore in 2022 while at Lanús, Miguel Almiron’s former club.

But the last couple of matches may be a sign that the 24-year-old just might be putting things together. He posted a goal and an assist in Seattle’s 3-2 win over the San Jose Earthquakes on July 19 before his equalizer on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It’s fair to say that this is the version of de la Vega that the Sounders hoped they’d see more of, and it sounds like he’s been showing that quite a bit in training, too. It also bears mentioning that Brian Schmetzer started de la Vega on the left wing in both matches after he came off the bench in the previous four and had primarily played on the right previously.

Would he make sense in an Atlanta United kit, though?

Well, for starters, Atlanta need a left winger badly. They’ve tried Saba Lobjanidze at that spot throughout the season and things haven’t worked. Luke Brennan’s come in and provided a breath of fresh air, but the sample size has been very limited. Leo Afonso is a depth option with relatively brief professional experience. Adding a healthy and hopefully in-form de le Vega could boost a side of the pitch that’s sorely needed it for a while.

Healthy is obviously the key word. We’ve seen Stian Gregersen not been able to stay on the field due to a series of injuries, leading to questions about whether he’s worth holding on to especially with his near million-dollar price tag, and both Enea Mihaj and Jose Berrocal on the roster. de la Vega’s set to make $1.379M this season, so Atlanta might balk at having another high-paid player with injury history on their roster.

Another note to consider: de la Vega is on a Designated Player contract. Garth Lagerwey signaled in an interview with the AJC’s Doug Roberson that all three of Atlanta’s DPs are safe for the current transfer window. That doesn’t mean that things won’t change in that regard in the winter. While neither have been able to connect the dots in 2025, Alexey Miranchuk has been in the spotlight since he has been here longer and because his creativity has been incredibly poor from the all-important No. 10 spot — where, of course, Almiron excelled in his first stint in Atlanta.

My opinion is that a move for de la Vega may not materialize until the winter if Atlanta remains interested. That’s not to say that a move is 100 percent certain to happen and that something can’t materialize in the summer, but we at least know that they’re interested in bringing him in.