A whole lot of roster strikes are seemingly coming to the LEC earlier than the Summer season Cut up begins.
In response to stories by Sheep Esports, Workforce BDS are paying a buyout of round €200k (£171k) for SK Gaming jungler Mehdi ‘Boukada’ Lahlou.
This follows stories that Turkish jungler Doğukan ‘113’ Balcı has chosen to step down and compete in Turkey’s TCL with Papara SuperMassive.
NLC caster drian ‘Jamada’ Wharlton-Thorne praised the choice as a “good transfer for each events.”
However when requested concerning the buyout, he responded: “I mentioned the transfer was good, however I didn’t point out the price for a motive.”
North American Challengers League caster Matthew ‘Cubby’ Samuelson was important of the reported worth:
“Buyouts are again, however nowhere near this in NA.
“I can solely consider a handful of gamers value this worth within the west, particularly once I’m seeing the participant has a yr left on their contract.
“Simply loopy how irresponsible cash is thrown round by orgs nonetheless in 2025.”
Boukada’s contract expiring this yr was supposedly a heavy contributor to his need to affix BDS.
The French jungler is reported to signal a brand new contract with Workforce BDS, which can final till the top of 2026.
The rumoured switch additionally complicates enterprise for SK Gaming.
In response to the report, former 100 Thieves and Excel midlaner Felix ‘Abbedagge’ Braun agreed to affix SK as a result of he needed to play with Boukada.
Speak of this on Reddit then prompted SK’s basic supervisor and former caster Mitch ‘Krepo’ Voorspoels to reply, which inadvertently confirmed the stories.
“Abbe was consulted on the transfer, we defined the scenario.
“There’s additionally the inevitable wrath of the group if we decline for that quantity + have a participant that now feels ‘jailed’, to contemplate.
“Abbe was supplied the prospect to interrupt his verbal however stays dedicated. In return, we had been in a position to make his deal higher on the financial facet.
“Difficult scenario with much more context than is public, however tried one of the best for everybody concerned.”
Along with this, stories additionally declare that each groups are signing Korean import toplaners.
To affix Boukada, BDS are bringing in Shin ‘Rooster’ Yun-hwan from Hanwha Life Esports Academy, a professional who has by no means performed in any main league.
SK are additionally mentioned to be signing Park ‘DnDn’ Geun-woo from TCL’s Everlasting Hearth and are nonetheless in search of a brand new jungler.
With the League of Legends MSI and the Esports World Cup developing, there’s a protracted wait till the LEC returns in August.
It has been a busy offseason with Worlds developing and Natus Vincere becoming a member of the LEC by buying Rogue’s slot.
But, the reported deadline for rosters to be locked in is July ninth, simply over two weeks away, so roster modifications needs to be confirmed quickly.
In my seven years of esports writing, I’ve introuduced esports protection to newspapers, interviewed a number of the largest names within the trade, and pushed viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I’m most pleased with the latter.
