Eduardo Vargas

Following an £11.5 million move to Napoli, Vargas had subsequent loan spells at Grêmio, Valencia and Queens Park Rangers before moving to 1899 Hoffenheim in 2015.

Eduardo Jesús Vargas Rojas (born 20 November 1989) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Brazilian Série A club Atlético Mineiro and the Chile national team.

In 2005, he was invited to a reality show headed by Adidas, called Adidas Selection Team, and despite not winning the competition, he impressed enough to start the 2006 pre-season trialling with Puerto Rico Islanders, as the club was in Chile.

In 2006, Vargas was signed by Cobreloa after impressing in a ten-day trial.

Initially assigned to the B-team in the Tercera División, he scored twice during his stay, netting against Universidad Arturo Prat and San Marcos de Arica in August.

Vargas made his first team debut on 23 July 2006, aged just 16, playing the last 20 minutes in a 4–1 away loss against Puerto Montt.

He appeared in three more matches during the season, all from the bench.

After only five further appearances in 2007, he became a regular starter in 2008, scoring his first professional goal on 16 March in a 3–2 home defeat of Palestino.

On 30 August, he scored a brace in a 4–3 away win against the same opponent.

Vargas established himself as a starter in 2009, contributing with four goals in 23 appearances.

A full international since 2010, Vargas has earned over 100 caps for Chile, scoring 40 goals.

On 7 January 2010, Vargas joined Universidad de Chile for a US$700,000 transfer fee.

He made his debut for the club on 25 January, replacing Gabriel Vargas and scoring the last in a 5–1 home routing of Cobresal.

Emerging as a top talent at Cobreloa, Vargas moved to Universidad de Chile where he won three titles, including the 2011 Copa Sudamericana, where he was named player of the tournament.

In 2011, he was co-awarded the Chilean Footballer of the Year and also finished as runner-up for the South American Footballer of the Year.

Vargas only broke into the first team during the 2011 campaign, and had a brilliant performance during the year, scoring 29 goals and providing in 51 matches.

He also won both league semestral tournaments (Torneo Apertura and Torneo Clausura), as well as the Copa Sudamericana, where he was the edition's top-scorer and netted goals in both final legs against LDU Quito, scoring the only goal at Casa Blanca and twice in the 3–0 win at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago.

Vargas was chosen as a candidate for South American Footballer of the Year in November 2011, eventually placing as runner-up to Neymar.

Then in December, Vargas was con-decorated as the Chilean Footballer of the Year.

In December 2011, Italian club Napoli purchased the player for a reported US$17.9 million (£11.5 million).

On 23 December 2011, Napoli club president Aurelio De Laurentiis, announced Vargas would arrive at the club: "I would like to inform you officially that we purchased Vargas, a few minutes ago I received a call from Dr. De Nicola, who visited the footballer and gave his okay under medical and athletic profile. We signed the contract and we also won the competition by strong Club who wanted the player. This is the testimony that our observatory is always open and we are continuously looking for young talents in the world that can make the case of Napoli and for the growth of our team."

Vargas arrived at Napoli on 6 January 2012 and signed on 9 January.

He made his debut in a 2–1 Coppa Italia defeat of Cesena at the Stadio San Paolo on 12 January.

On 20 May, he was an unused substitute as Napoli defeated Juventus in the Coppa Italia Final at the Stadio Olimpico.

On 20 September 2012, in the first match of Napoli's UEFA Europa League campaign, Vargas scored his first Napoli goals, netting three in a 4–0 victory against AIK.

This was the first time that a Chilean player had scored a hat-trick in a continental competition in Europe.

On 17 January 2013, Vargas agreed to go on loan to Brazilian side Grêmio.

He made his first appearance six days later in a Copa Libertadores match against LDU Quito.

He scored his first goal on 21 February against Fluminense in the Copa Libertadores.

On 31 March, he scored his first goal in the Campeonato Gaúcho, converting a penalty at the Arena do Grêmio in a 1–1 draw with Passo Fundo.

Vargas recorded two goals and three assists in eight appearances as Valencia reached the semi-finals of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League.

He was part of their squad at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, and the Copa América in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2021.

On 23 January 2014, Vargas joined La Liga club Valencia on loan for the rest of the 2013–14 season.

Vargas played his first official match for Los Che in a 3–2 away win at Camp Nou against champions Barcelona on 1 February 2014.

He scored his first La Liga goal against Real Betis, in a 5–0 home win.

On 21 August 2014, Vargas joined Queens Park Rangers on loan until the end of the 2014–15 Premier League season.

He made his debut for the club on 14 September against Manchester United, replacing Charlie Austin for the last 31 minutes at Old Trafford.

He would finish as top scorer in Chile's title-winning 2015 and 2016 Copa América campaigns.

Born in Santiago, Vargas grew up in Renca, and began his career playing for Internacional de Renca's youth setup.

He also had trials at Universidad Católica and Palestino before taking part of Deportes Puerto Montt's youth categories.