Nikola "NiKo" Kovač is set to join Team Falcons, sources told Sheep Esports on Friday. While the Bosnian ace should stay with G2 Esports for the remaining competitions of 2024, he will start playing with the Saudi organisation in January 2025. As it is still uncertain which player will be removed from Falcons’ roster to make room for NiKo, sources said it will not be Emil "Magisk" Reif.

This blockbuster move is part of Saudi’s org drive to build a world-class roster since last year. Indeed, the Counter-Strike’s superstar rifler was already expected to join Falcons for 2024, before the soap opera drew to a close, with the final announcement that he would be sticking with G2, on November 6 2023. As a reminder, the riffler settled at G2 in November 2020, and came second in the HLTV player rankings in 2023.

If this time, NiKo is well and truly gone, the Samurais should walk away with a handsome compensation package as part of the Bosnian buyout: from $1 million to $1.2 million, according to sources. The contract that NiKo plans to accept with Team Falcons has a duration of 3 years and is scheduled to take effect on January 1st.

NiKo’s Last Samurai Dance

For his last year in a G2 jersey, NiKo already won IEM Dallas and is aiming for more, although his team fell short to NAVI - Copenhaghen Major’s winner - in the Esports World Cup’s grand final. Despite the loss, the Bosnian rifler was named MVP of the tournament and should still try his hardest during his last Samurai Dance, to maybe finally win a Major in Shanghai, one of the few titles that have so far eluded him.

Falcons, on the other hand, didn't live up to expectations with their brand-new 2024 roster. The Saudi team didn’t raise a single trophy on Counter-Strike 2, despite recruiting some of the winners of the Paris Major 2023: Magisk, coach Danny "zonic" Sørensen and, in the middle of the year, Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen. The Saudi organisation is aiming ever higher on the CS stage especially after winning the EWC prize pool ($7 million), which should enable them to invest further on this scene, NiKo being a gigantic first milestone.

The streamer KRL was the first to suggest publicly that the deal should happen. However, sources close to Sheep Esports confirmed that the agreement was accepted on Monday.