NiKo’s transfer to Falcons. What to expect and what will happen to G2 Esports?
There have been no truly high-profile transfers on the professional Counter-Strike scene for a long time. This is mainly due to the tight tournament schedule and the players’ current contracts with the largest organizations. In order to transfer a high-profile star, other clubs simply do not have enough money to buy the player out of the team. But the Falcons’ management does not think so. The club, sponsored by sheikhs, has long dreamed of signing Nikola NiKo Kovac. The only thing that has stopped them all year is the player’s personal unwillingness to leave his organization. But after a while, Falcons apparently managed to find a common language with the Bosnian; according to rumors, Nikola NiKo Kovac has already signed a contract with a new club and will start playing for it in 2025. In this article, we will discuss NiKo’s transfer to Falcons, as well as the future of two organizations: Falcons and G2 Esports.
Details of the NiKo transfer and what the new Falcons roster will be like
Despite the almost completed transfer, Nikola NiKo Kovac will still play for G2 Esports at the remaining tournaments in 2024, including the Perfect World Shanghai Major. Officially, the Bosnian will become a new Falcons player only on January 1, 2025. According to insiders, the club will pay from $1,000,000 to $1,200,000 for the transfer. Falcons offered Nikola NiKo Kovac a three-year contract, which confirms the organization’s plans to create a super team that will dominate the professional scene.
It immediately became obvious that Nikola NiKo Kovac would never agree to move to the current Falcons roster, which cannot compete and confidently enter the tier-1 scene. So far, it is known for sure that in addition to the Bosnian, Emil Magisk Reif will remain on the new roster. The fate of the remaining spots on the team has not yet been determined, but you can be sure that the roster will be built around Nikola NiKo Kovac. It is quite possible that all the players on the current roster, except for Magisk, will leave the club. Then the Falcons still need to acquire a top-notch sniper, a captain, and one more player.
The AWP position can easily be filled by Ilya m0NESY Osipov, who is unlikely to stay in G2 Esports without his good friend and loyal teammate. The only reason why this may not happen is the desire of the Russian to play in a Russian-speaking team, but Nikola NiKo Kovac should be able to persuade the sniper to move to Falcons. In case of failure in negotiations with Ilya m0NESY Osipov, you can go for the return to the professional scene of Oleksandr s1mple Kostyliev, who will have to be bought out from Natus Vincere.
It is very difficult to find a suitable captain for the new Falcons roster. The only obvious option is Finn karrigan Andersen. The Dane has already played with Nikola NiKo Kovac and probably wouldn’t mind ending his career on the same team as the Bosnian. The only question is whether karrigan wants to play for a couple more years or end his career as a player now.
The last player on the Falcons roster could be almost any star rifler from a top team. The club clearly won’t skimp on the roster and can come to an agreement with almost any eSports player. But it will definitely be a person with whom Nikola NiKo Kovac wants to play.
What will happen to G2 Esports?
In the case of the transfer of Nikola NiKo Kovac alone, G2 Esports will receive a lot of money to build a new roster. If Ilya m0NESY Osipov leaves with him, this amount will be several times larger. But this still puts the club in a very awkward position, the loss of two key players on the roster can hit the team hard and it will be extremely difficult to find suitable candidates, and the organization is unlikely to be able to stay in the same positions in the world rankings.
Ilya Perfecto Zalutskiy may become one of the future players of G2 Esports, and choosing a new sniper will be much more difficult. The money from the transfer of two stars may well be enough to sign Oleksandr s1mple Kostyliev, but the club is unlikely to take this step, and some promising talent from anywhere in the world can take on AWP.
The transfer of Nikola NiKo Kovac to the Falcons should refresh not only the organization’s roster itself, but also the entire professional scene. It has remained unchanged for a long time, and now we will see not only the formation of a new team around NiKo, but also Ilya m0NESY Osipov in another team, in addition to G2 Esports, as well as transfers of other stars that will be needed by both Falcons and G2. 2025 is already preparing a lot of interesting things for us, and we can only watch what happens.