Seattle Sounders FC winger Pedro de la Vega is out 6-8 weeks with a right hamstring injury, head coach Brian Schemtzer confirmed at Tuesday's training session.
The 23-year-old Argentine was Seattle's marquee offseason signing, arriving as a Young DP from Lanús for a reported $7.5 million transfer fee. He filled the DP spot club legend Nicolás Lodeiro occupied before joining Orlando City SC in free agency.
"He feels pretty confident about it," Schmetzer said. "But we’re going to take it easy to make sure that he’s completely fit so this doesn’t happen again. There are some issues there the trainers want to get right before we proceed.
"That certainly was a blow because you guys saw glimpses of how good and how influential he can be."
In last weekend's 0-0 draw vs. Austin FC, de la Vega played 63 minutes during his first start in Rave Green. On MLS is Back weekend, he scored a penalty kick during a 26-minute substitute appearance in Seattle's 2-1 defeat at LAFC.
But hamstring injuries have proven troublesome, with this setback mirroring one he suffered with Argentina's U-23 national team. Then there was a small knock picked up during their preseason trip to Spain.
Regardless, Schmetzer preached caution around a player who joined in late January.
"He played 30-something games last year for Lanús, so we know he’s durable," Schmetzer said. "Whatever happened in the Argentine U-23s and whatever happened in preseason, we’re going to correct that."
Although de la Vega is out through potentially early May, Seattle must handle the task at hand: Saturday's trip to perennial Eastern Conference contenders Philadelphia Union (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
Schmetzer is confident the goals, and their first win of 2024, will come soon.
"Tactically, the way we want to play and all that, I think everything there is working well," Schmetzer said. "We just need to find somebody to break the ice and score. Once the first guy scores, it’ll become hopefully contagious and other guys will start picking it up."
