Although the League of Legends Worlds are still ongoing, the transfer market is starting in the USA. In recent years, LoL teams like Cloud 9 and TSM have spent millions of US dollars on their best players. But they do not stay.
These are the expensive players:
- The mid laner Perkz moved from G2 to Cloud9 for supposedly 5 million US dollars in 2020. But the US team is allegedly selling him again – because the Croatian does not want to stay. Perkz is considered the best player Europe has ever produced.
- The mid laner Bjergsen played for TSM for 8 years before becoming coach in 2020. He is now a co-owner of the team. In 2021, he wants to play again. But not for TSM. Although Bjergsen is Danish, he has shaped LoL in the USA over the past years.
- The supporter SwordArt moved to TSM before 2020 and received a contract worth 6 million US dollars for 2 years. He will also leave. SwordArt reached the Worlds finals with Team Suning in 2020.
Perkz leaves Cloud9, wants to build his own team
This is what’s going on with Perkz: According to sources, Cloud9 currently plans to sell Perkz. This apparently happens at the request of the Croatian mid laner.
It is said that Perkz informed the team on October 25 that he would not return to Cloud9 in 2022 – he cites “family reasons” as the cause. The news reached Cloud9 just before they were eliminated from the Worlds against Gen G.
Perkz is said to be planning to build his own team in the off-season and is still looking for a team that can make this possible.
On Twitter, Perkz is already poking fun at the rumors of which EU team he is switching to by practically listing all the major EU teams in a tweet:
Bjergsen wants to play again – but not for TSM despite “good offer”
This is what’s going on with Bjergsen: TSM has announced that they made the legendary mid laner Bjergsen an offer that apparently promised him a lot of money and the opportunity to build a team around him.
However, Bjergsen has declined the offer. TSM now aims to build a new team and focus on highly talented young players.
According to current rumors (via upcomer), Bjergsen is allegedly set to move to the competitor Team Liquid, where the main mid laner Jensen is apparently set to swap to the bot lane.
Ironically, this is the same move that Perkz pulled off in Europe before 2019.
This is what’s going on with SwordArt: The supporter SwordArt received 6 million $ for 2 years at TSM, but is leaving the team after just one year, leaving 3 million $ on the table.
SwordArt made it to the Worlds finals in 2020, but TSM disappointed in 2021 and failed to qualify for the Worlds.
TSM is swimming in money, but has hardly any players left
What’s behind it: The movements at TSM are strange. TSM is swimming in money after a big deal with a crypto exchange. That they wanted to invest that money specifically in Bjergsen, who has not played professionally in LoL for a year and had previously not won any international titles, can likely only be explained with loyalty and the hope to excite the fans.
That Bjergsen declines this to move away from TSM is even more bizarre.
What is certainly exciting is where Perkz lands. The Croatian is considered incredibly ambitious and apparently wants to form his own super team after not succeeding at the Worlds so often. This could be an exciting project – the question is who will pay for it. TSM would actually be the best place for this, but if they are now focusing on “players with perspective”, that seems unlikely:
LoL: Whoever has money and a team can get one of the best players in Germany.
