Esequiel Omar Barco

When Atlanta United paid $15 million for Esequiel Barco in 2018, it was a record fee for Major League Soccer. He had already been named Argentine Young Player of the Year for 2016 and picked in the CONMEBOL Team of the Year for 2017.

The route there ran through AA Jorge Bernardo Griffa in his home town, then Independiente's academy from 2015. His professional debut came in the Copa Argentina against Defensa y Justicia in August 2016, with a league debut against Belgrano later that month. Before he left, he won the 2017 Copa Sudamericana.

Atlanta won the MLS Cup in his first season, then the U.S. Open Cup and the Campeones Cup in 2019. He was an All-Star in both 2018 and 2019.

The return to Argentina began as a loan in January 2022. River Plate bought half his rights a year later and took full ownership at the start of 2024. In 2023 he won the Primera División title, along with the Trofeo de Campeones and the Supercopa Argentina.

Spartak Moscow signed him in July 2024 on a three-year deal for €14 million. The analytics platform RUSTAT named him the best player in the Russian Premier League for 2024/25, and the RFSS listed him among its 33 best players of 2025/26, as a left winger. In May 2026 Spartak beat Krasnodar 4-3 on penalties to take the Russian Cup.

Argentina have capped him at youth level only — 18 appearances and two goals for the under-20s, seven and one goal for the Olympic side.