G2 CEO Confirms NiKo's Departure From The Team
Since then, more details have been revealed by Sheep Esports as their sources have leaked information on the potential specifics of the alleged buyout: “Team Falcons is expected to pay G2 Esports $1 million to $1.2 million for NiKo’s buyout, as the Bosnian will sign a 3-year contract with the Saudi organisation”
What happened in 2023?
In 2023, the news of NiKo joining Falcons was initially broken by 1pv.fr on their website: “After signing Danny "zonic" Sørensen, Lars Robl, and very likely Emil "Magisk" Reif, all three from Vitality, the arrival of Nikola "NiKo" Kovač to Falcons is a done deal. According to our sources, an agreement has been reached between the iconic Bosnian player, Nikola "NiKo" Kovač, his current organization, G2 Esports, and Falcons. NiKo's arrival was solidified after Falcons paid the buyout clause of the Bosnian player, a sum measured in millions. This would mark a radical change for the CSGO superstar and could have significant implications for the competitive scene.”
However, the deal fell through as NiKo made a shocking u-turn on his decision at the last minute, committed to playing for G2 Esports for another year. G2 General Manager Petar "peca" Marković put out a statement at the time: “Happy to put an end to all the rumors, gossip and speculations with the final verdict - NiKo is here to stay at G2. As previously mentioned, we are of the firm opinion that he plays an incredibly unique role in our team that would be hard to replace, and we're thrilled to announce that we've reached an agreement for him to remain with our team. Retaining the key player that helped us to clinch victories at two prestigious tournaments in 2023, we are eager to discover what successes the near future holds for us.”
What did the CEO say now?
This time, however, it seems that NiKo is going to be leaving for good. G2 Esports CEO, Alban Dechelotte, recently appeared for an interview that covered a wide range of topics regarding his organization, and fans were surprised to learn that he also spoke on the future of their CS2 roster. Dechelotte stated that their recent signing of Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa was made to future proof the team.
"Because he [NiKo] has several years left on his contract, we could have done so. If we did, it's because we consider that this is a moment, perhaps an amount, perhaps a phase for this roster, where it's the right decision,” he said regarding NiKo, "But the fact that we signed malbs in July, when he's playing the same positions as NiKo, maybe it's a bit of an anticipation of what's to come, and maybe we're already working on who will replace malbs in his anchor position, and he could move into the positions that NiKo will be leaving at the end of December."
Alban also commented on the possibility of Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov, a long-time teammate of NiKo’s who would likely also depart from the organization in pursuit of his friend. "In any case, he [m0NESY] has a contract of more than a year. It's up to us. For him to leave, we'll have to accept that. I think he has a special relationship with NiKo, he's been his mentor, he admires him a lot, NiKo helped him a lot in his career,” he said regarding m0NESY, “But today, he's also the best player in the world, and he has an opportunity to become the leader of the roster in his own right. So we're working on what the G2 CS roster will look like in the future. For us, Ilya is at the heart of the project.”
