€125,000 transfer fee conundrum blocks n1ssim's paiN future

At the Americas RMR earlier this year, paiN successfully secured a qualification berth to the Copenhagen Major with a 3-1 record, bringing millions in sticker money to the organization and cementing yet another run to the Major for the Brazilian organization. paiN would go on to move past the Opening Stage of the Major and finish with a 2-3 record in the Elimination Stage, tied with Complexity for the best placement for an Americas team.

Part of paiN's success was due to Vinicius "n1ssim" Pereira, who recorded a 1.10 rating at the Major and is one of the highest-rated players in our hemisphere. What fans and viewers may not have known, though, is that n1ssim is not a full member of paiN, but has been on loan to the organization from Sharks since November of last year.

paiN were planning to sign him to the roster after the Major, but negotiations have stalled. According to Dust2 Brasil, n1ssim's buyout clause from Sharks, stipulated at €20,000, expired before the RMR on February 29th. Sharks reached out to paiN to ask whether they would like to activate that clause, but paiN stated they would respond following the event.

After paiN's successful run at the RMR, paiN re-enquired with Sharks about activating the buy-out clause. Sharks reaffirmed that the previous offer only held until February 29th and was now willing to transfer n1ssim for €125,000. This amount is reportedly half of n1ssim's termination fee with Sharks, €250,000. n1ssim's current contract with Sharks concludes at the end of 2024.

In statements sent to Dust2 Brasil, paiN believed the situation was unfair and that they differed in the interpretation of some clauses of the contract, Additionally, they allege that Sharks was not being forthcoming about negotiating n1ssim's transfer fee. For their part, Sharks said that they had already negotiated the transfer cost to below n1ssim's termination fee and stressed that paiN had not exercised their cheaper buyout clause before it expired.

Sharks told Dust2 Brasil in a statement that they believe the negotiations have been more than fair while suggesting that more teams have already enquired about n1ssim's availability.