The story around the possible transfer of Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin from fnatic to NIP is now in full swing. Rumors have it, the preliminary sum is $750,000. That’s how much the British organization is asking for a player who hasn’t even won a Major. So why such a huge amount of cash?
Today, the CS.MONEY Blog is going to look into whether this price is fair or not. To this end, we’ll examine some earlier transfers in the world of eSports.
Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski from Virtus.pro to MOUZ
In July 2018, Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski transferred from Virtus.pro to MOUZ for $290,000. At the time, the Pole was 24 years old and enjoyed a reputation of an excellent, experienced AWPer.
Compared to the Swede, Ludvig is younger: he’s 19. Besides, he’s a rifleman (and an equally brilliant one at that). Even though he has no won Majors under his belt, he’s achieved victories in two big tournaments: DreamHack Masters Malmo 2019 and ESL Pro League S11 Europe. Less experience, but more prospects. The sum of $290,000 seems high these days: with Janusz as their member, the MOUZ lineup only won ESL One New York 2018. In October of the same year, removed the Pole from the roster.
Patrick “es3tag” Hansen from Astralis to Cloud9
In the spring of 2020, the head honchos of the richest organization in eSports decided to fork out for Patrick “es3tag” Hansen. The sum of the transfer amounted to $2,100,000. This included about $700,000 for the player’s buyback from Astralis, with the rest of the money going to his salary. At the time, Patrick (24 years old) was one of Denmark’s best riflers.
Hansen is much older than Brolin, and unlike the price of the Dane, that of the Swede seems more than justified. Note, however, that Cloud9 apparently overpaid for es3tag big-time, given the failure of their Colossus project and the subsequent decline of the player’s career.
Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov from Winstrike to NAVI
In May of 2019, NAVI bought out Russia’s most promising captain, Kirill Boombl4 Mikhailov, from Winstrike. The price was $300,000.
The 20-year-old would-be captain was a great asset: the Russian had gained experience from Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko himself and led Natus Vincere to their halcyon days in CS:GO. In 2021, they won all the significant tournaments of the second half of the year and made the grade in Intel Grand Slam. If you look at transfers like that, NAVI was incredibly lucky to grab such a fantastic player for only $300,000.
Marcelo “coldzera” David from MIBR to FaZe
One of the world’s most popular players, Marcelo “coldzera” David, was acquired by FaZe in September 2019 for $1,000,000
Eventually, though, the transition failed to meet expectations: the team only won 2 trophies over 2 years, and the Brazilian was very far from assuming the role of the squad’s leader. Nevertheless, his price was quite understandable: Marcelo’s high media exposure provided FaZe with a great fan base in South America. Besides, there the club was hoping to strengthen their firepower at the time of purchase.
Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov from NAVI Junior to G2
Let’s finish with the most recent transfer: Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov transferred from NAVI to G2 Junior Academy for $600,000 in early January 2022.
It’s too early to say whether the transfer was a success or not in terms of results. Nevertheless, G2 took second place in the first LAN-tournament with Ilya on board the ship, and the Russian showed himself as a promising and powerful AWPer in the process. Another thing worth mentioning is Osipov’s high media profile: he’s one of the most popular players in the CIS region. Considering m0NESY’s young age (16), it doesn’t seem like he was overpriced.
Conclusion
Given Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin’s not-particularly-high popularity, his experience of playing in the tier-1 scene for over 3 years, and amazing individual level of play, the price of around $600.000 seems to be reasonable. We might assume fnatic are demanding a little more from NIP: $750,000. The reason is their status as a direct competitor. Sometimes, negotiations between teams from the same country or region are tough since the local fans and management perceive them as direct competitors. The duration of Brollan’s current contract may also be at play here.
So this was an insight into the transfer value of Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin. If you liked the post, we recommend that you check out this exclusive interview with nexa and an article about the world’s top prospect players. And stay tuned to the CS.MONEY — we’ll treat you to even more quality content.
