Rubén Vargas has not completed a match since March, and a fresh discomfort last week forced him out of training again just days before Switzerland open their World Cup campaign. Murat Yakin still expects the 27-year-old to be available for Saturday’s opener against Qatar, but the forward’s body has become the main issue as the tournament begins.
That is why his name is being searched now. Sevilla had hoped the World Cup would put Vargas and Djibril Sow in the shop window and help the club move players in the winter transfer market, but Vargas has spent much of the buildup trying to get back to full rhythm. He returned definitively in March after a setback in January against Celta de Vigo, and since then he has managed two assists, a small return that still does not erase the gap left by repeated interruptions.
Yakin sees Vargas as an important player, and that view has not changed even after the winger was rested for the final test against Australia. Yet the Swiss coach is also managing a player who has had no continuity and who had to leave a training session last week because of discomfort. For a squad preparing to start a World Cup, that kind of warning matters as much as any tactical plan.
There is a footballing reason for the caution, too. Several Swiss outlets have pointed to a possible 3-4-3 system at the tournament, with Granit Xhaka and Remo Freuler expected to hold the middle of the pitch. That shape would ask a lot from the wide players and leave little room for anyone arriving short of full sharpness. Djibril Sow, who has five goals and four assists this season, started on the bench in Switzerland’s two most recent friendlies, a reminder that even established names are not guaranteed a big role.
For Sevilla, the wider picture is just as important. The club has been trying to use the World Cup to raise the market value of Vargas and Sow while dealing with an economic squeeze that will also leave it without players of the level of Lukebákio or Loic Badé this season. Vargas, 27, had shown a better level earlier in the campaign and in the previous one, but the market only rewards players who can stay on the field.
Yakin’s expectation is that Vargas makes it to June 13. Whether he arrives ready to play like the player Sevilla hoped to showcase is the unanswered part, and it is the one that will shape both Switzerland’s opener against Qatar and the forward’s value once the tournament starts to move.
