Liquid target Spirit player; transfer remains complicated

Ryan Friend contributed to this report.

According to Russian insider OverDrive, Liquid are targeting Robert "Patsi" Isyanov, currently of Spirit, as their new fifth after the departure of Nick "nitr0" Cannella. It is also confirmed that Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis will continue as the in-game leader of the team.

Patsi has been on Spirit's primary roster since February of last year when he was promoted up from their Academy team. While playing on Spirit, he has averaged a 1.09 rating, with his primary role being an entry-fragging rifler. With YEKINDAR also sharing a similar role, it is expected to allow a lightening of the load on the Latvian player, for his in-game leading to take priority.

Sources tell Dust2.us that the initial transfer fee for the player is around $100,000, with incentives related to individual and team performances that could eventually raise the figure. The fee is considered a paltry figure for the player, considering his achievements at the international level. One source described the deal as being "95% complete" and should be finished this week.

There are logistical hold-ups to the deal at the current moment, which sources could not specifically reveal. At the time it is known that both Spirit and Patsi have detached themselves from Russia, meaning the situation is different compared to the YEKINDAR deal that Liquid completed late last year. In that case, Liquid had to avoid working directly with Virtus.pro due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the international sanctions that followed after.

Earlier in the week, we reported that the BLAST Premier Fall Groups roster lock would be coming into effect on June 22nd, which is when we expected to potentially learn of Liquid's new fifth or at least their stand-in for the tournament. Today's news clears that up, with Patsi being a potential addition to the team, and his debut is expected on July 13th for the group stage.

With this being a North American team, the communication is in English, and while Patsi does speak and understand English quite well, there may still be a transition period for him in which he may find it hard to fit into a new calling language. Fortunately for Patsi, YEKINDAR is fluent in Russian, so at least there will be no communication breakdown between him and his in-game leader.

This would not be the first time in history that Liquid targeted a Russian player for the roster. Going into 2022, when looking for replacements for Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo, the then 23-year-old Aleksei "El1an" Gusevm was in talks with Liquid about joining as the AWPer. In the end, however, it would be Josh "oSee" Ohm who joined the team.

With this new addition, Liquid would now be:

• Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski

• Keith "NAF" Markovic

• Josh "oSee" Ohm

• Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis

• Robert "Patsi" Isyanov

• Damian "daps" Steele (Coach)