Analysis: How Warren Madrigal will fit with Nashville SC

Nashville SC’s latest signing is the 21-year-old, versatile attacker Warren Madrigal, acquired from Saprissa for $500,000. In 2025, Nashville SC struggled to score when star striker Sam Surridge wasn't in the game, and Madrigal is their attempt to answer that question while also being versatile enough to spell the other starters in Gold.

Sources: Nashville SC sign forward Warren Madrigal

The Boys In Gold add a high-ceiling young Costa Rican international

SixOneFive SoccerBen Wright

Biography

Warren Madrigal is a 21-year-old Costa Rican who broke through with Costa Rican giants Saprissa and also spent a year on loan in Spain’s fourth division with Valencia B.

Madrigal has six goals in 26 appearances for the Costa Rican national team, including goals against Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala, and Honduras. For Saprissa, he has 19 goals in 107 appearances, but his breakout came with Valencia in 2024-25, when he scored 8 goals in 18 appearances. 

For what it’s worth, Randall Leal had zero goals in 17 appearances for Los Ticos and eight goals in 56 appearances for Saprissa when he moved to Nashville in 2020, a year older than Madrigal was at the time of his signing. Madrigal is at least as good a prospect as Leal, and his signature is a sign of how far Nashville SC and MLS have come over the last five years.

Nashville haven't had a consistent third scorer since Randall Leal so it’s fitting they’re going back to the well to finally replace his production.

Statistical overview

At a glance, Madrigal’s radial charts are impressive. He’s an efficient player who wins duels and scores goals. But once you start to nitpick, a few red flags begin to emerge. 

Sam Surridge was fantastic for Nashville SC last season. When he was on the pitch, the Boys In Gold averaged 1.7 goals per 90 minutes. He was also an ironman, playing nearly 3,000 minutes in MLS last season. Part of that was out of necessity, since his backup, Teal Bunbury, scored only six goals in over 2,000 minutes since the start of 2023. Nashville have a major need for a backup No. 9 who can provide some scoring while giving Surridge a break on the bench, and they think they’ve found it in Madrigal.

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SixOneFive SoccerBen Wright

Madrigal is a very efficient player. He’s able to score and assist on minimal touches in the box. In 2025, MLS forwards averaged .11 non-penalty expected goal contributions (xG+xA) per touch in the box. Nashville’s DP funnel was elite at getting the ball to their top players. Hany Mukhtar and Surridge averaged .13 NPxG+xAG per touch in the box, while the rest of the Boys in Gold sat around .09. In 2025, Madrigal averaged .14 NPxG+xAG per touch in the box and .12 in 2024. When he gets the ball, it’s usually in a good spot.

Despite being smaller in stature, measuring 5’10”, Madrigal is pretty good in the air. Over the last two years, Madrigal has won about 2.3 aerial duels per 90 at a 40% win rate. That’s just slightly below what 6’3” Sam Surridge did last season at 2.6 Aerial Duels with a 44% win rate. I imagine that will dip a bit for Madrigal when he comes to MLS. He’s probably not a guy you want to fire crosses at, but he’ll surprise you from time to time. 

My primary concern with Madrigal is reflected in the graph below. To me, he disappears a lot, which isn't uncommon for a young player. He’ll have to work harder to contribute to the attack. I plotted key passes and shots per 90 minutes played from MLS in 2025, and added Madrigal’s 2024 and 2025 seasons to show his contributions to the Saprissa and Valencia attacks. While he isn't entirely in the basement, it’s not encouraging to see this from a player moving up to a better league.

What makes this an even bigger red flag is that he played for pretty good attacking teams. Saprissa finished second in goals scored, while Valencia B were seventh. There was plenty of talent around him, yet he struggled to make an impact. 

Madrigal’s disappearing act continues when we step back and look at how Saprissa advanced the ball. 2.3 progressive actions and 10 passes received per 90 are okay. Still, it’s a noticeable drop compared to Surridge, who had 2.8 and 11.5, and that’s with Mukhtar absorbing a massive share of progressive actions (6) and passes received (29).

Film room

What a hit! While I don’t think Madrigal will be banging goals like that too often, it’s still good striker play before the ball comes to him. He drops deep into the midfield to open up the run in behind, then dusts his marker. If it’s a better pass to his feet, he probably scores a much simpler, more repeatable goal. He’s also playing as a right winger here and moves centrally to create the space in behind. I don’t think he’ll play exclusively as a No. 9 for Nashville; he could even spell Mukhtar for a bit next to Surridge. 

Ok, maybe I was wrong. I guess he can repeat goals like this?

The linked tweet says it best. Madrigal controls the ball, but it’s not the cleanest touch. He then plays his teammate out wide and finishes with his right foot again for another quality finish.

And finally, his hat-trick for Valencia B. After watching all his goals, these are the three ways he scores. First, he gets out in transition and makes the most of an imperfect ball. Then he’s in the right place at the right time to force one home. And finally, a banger from outside the box. 

Sam Surridge excels in transition, and NSC really missed someone who could press the backline and get in behind when Surridge was out. Madrigal appears to be the guy.

I’m a little worried about some of his opportunistic goals, where he’s in the right place at the right time. I’m not sure how reliable it’ll be when he steps up to a superior league. This is the same concern I had previously, when he wasn’t really involved in or the focus of the buildup. If he can’t make an impact and he’s waiting for the ball to fall to him, he may be waiting a while.

His ability to shoot from outside the box is what sets him apart from Sam Surridge. In 2025, Surridge took just five shots from outside the box. It’s not what he was instructed to do, and it’s not his skill set. Madrigal can add a different dynamic to the front line.

Bottom line

Madrigal is a risk. Young players always are. But there’s a lot to his game that should give Nashville SC and its fans confidence.

For starters, he’s a full international and has produced at the continental level. Second, he has an excellent goal-scoring record in two countries. Players like that can usually adapt to a third league. Finally, he’s pretty cheap.

For a high-profile player like Madrigal, this is a great price, and I think he could be the guy to answer Nashville’s bench scoring question.