North sign Kristou as a part of talent development plan; enter partnership with AGF

4-9-2020 12:03

The 18-year-old will continue playing with AGF on loan while following a personal development plan made by North.

North have announced a long-term talent development strategy, entering a partnership with AGF and signing Kristoffer "⁠Kristou⁠" Aamand, who is loaned back to the organization. With this move, North hope to reduce the load on their players and aim to help develop regional talent.

Kristou will continue playing with AGF on a loan deal

"North Esports intends to build a sustainable Talent Development model, giving some of the biggest Scandinavian talents a healthier path into the professional scene", North's announcement reads, as they reveal the signing of Kristou.

The 18-year-old player was loaned to North earlier this year, when Markus "⁠Kjaerbye⁠" Kjærbye was sidelined due to to medical reasons. North initiated a clause in the loan agreement that allowed them to buy out the player permanently at the end of the period, North's Head of Esports Operations Graham Pitt disclosed.

"As part of the buyout, we negotiated with both Kristou and AGF to secure his return on loan to continue his development as a starting member of their roster, whilst also finishing his final year of education", Pitt explains, adding that Kristou will "continue to receive full support and coaching from the North staff, and where appropriate will also be brought back for practice sessions to monitor his progress, simultaneously providing members the starting roster time to rest during the season".

Kristou will follow a development plan made by North during his stay with AGF, with the player and his coach Rasmus "⁠FaagaN⁠" Møller Thomsen set to be in constant communication with Jimmy "⁠Jumpy⁠" Berndtsson to "ensure the development and progress for Kristou".

North will not be operating a six-man roster directly during this period, with the organization instead entering an agreement with AGF that will help them reduce the load on their players and simultanously give talents from the Scandinavian-Nordic region a path to develop on.

"Our new setup with AGF will allow us to develop talent in a way that ensures all players can be playing regularly, ensure a gradual introduction to the professional life for Kristou, and we make sure that all players can recharge during the season", Pitt adds, revealing that the aim is to have new talents, in time, develop into first-team candidates. Additionally, the agreement with AGF will allow them to perform specifically focused practice sessions with their partnered team.

North revealed that they plan to go further than just AGF and "partner up with several ambitious Nordic esports organizations to help young players develop and prevent burnout of seasoned players". "Our new Talent Development Strategy is one tool in that toolbox," says Christian Engell, North Performance Coach.

North's starting lineup remains unchanged:

Mathias "⁠MSL⁠" Lauridsen
René "⁠cajunb⁠" Borg
Nicklas "⁠gade⁠" Gade
Philip "⁠aizy⁠" Aistrup
Jonas "⁠Lekr0⁠" Olofsson

Jimmy "⁠Jumpy⁠" Berndtsson (coach)

Meanwhile, AGF, ranked 54th in the world, are as follows:

Kristoffer "⁠Kristou⁠" Aamand (on loan)
Lucas "⁠Lukki⁠" Pilheden
Jonas "⁠netrick⁠" Wenzelsen
Magnus "⁠fr0slev⁠" Frøslev
Thomas "⁠TMB⁠" Bundsbæk

Rasmus "⁠FaagaN⁠" Møller Thomsen (coach)

Ok Sucks that you cant do academy teams anymore.

2020-09-04 12:07

11 replies

2020-09-04 12:09

hltv.org/team/10254/big-academy hltv.org/team/10371/navi-junior

2020-09-04 12:11

7 replies

they cant progress anywhere though because they arent allowed to play in the same tournaments as the main team

2020-09-04 15:17

6 replies

They can progress if a player is good enough to join the main roster

2020-09-04 15:23

5 replies

yeah but the team isnt profitable otherwise

2020-09-04 16:38

4 replies

It is lol, whole org has sponsors etc etc

2020-09-04 17:10

3 replies

but the academy teams dont pull in the sponsors. they only take salary

2020-09-04 18:43

2 replies

Lmaoo dude you're clueless

2020-09-05 04:56

1 reply

care to explain why? fewer viewers and fans of academy teams so sponsors are less likely to advertise through them. cr4zy is about the same level as navi junior. they have fewer sponsors than navi because navi has a tier 1 team that brings in viewers and fans

2020-09-05 19:16

Can't do academy teams but can contract a player and rent him out, charging more as they get better while keeping them locked in a contract? Basically the Danish CSGO orgs are going to make money whether their teams win or lose by just buying upcoming talent and renting it out to smaller orgs & taking a cut.

2020-09-04 12:14

I don't know how it works, but I imagine he's cheaper for agf now. At least in theory north sign him and agf give him a team to get good experience with north overlooking. Win - win.

2020-09-04 13:31

So, AGF = North Academy?

2020-09-04 12:04

2017

2020-09-04 12:42

yes

2020-09-04 12:44

NO.. North is Football Club Copenhagen AGF is another football club.. Its two seperate entities...

2020-09-04 13:40

But off football, it looks like that

2020-09-04 16:57

more or less

2020-09-04 13:54

YAY!

2020-09-04 12:05

>Kristou >talent Bruh

who?

2020-09-04 12:06

Lmaooo he is the worst player of their team wtf

Awesome!

bot

my boys from Norph on the way to destroy another career

-cajunb +kristou

>kristou >talent choose one

kristou > Lekr0

2020-09-04 12:10

0/8

KICK MSL PLZ NOW THX

A perfect example that the org is being run by a football club. I think it's a worthwhile idea, especially from a business perspective, but it will never be as prevalent nor successful in CS:GO as in football as CS:GO, just like any other team-oriented esport, is too reliant on communication and synergy where physical fatigue isn't really a thing. They never really used any of the North Academy as standins or prospects for the main team back in the day either, although mertz eventually ended up on the team.

2020-09-04 12:12

+111111

I think it's a good move though and would love to see a Swedish org talong responsibility of developing talents! It's needed

2020-09-04 13:39

North, career destroyer

to develop talent you should have at least a bit of it in your main roster huh

2020-09-04 12:16

XDDXXDXD

2020-09-04 12:29

North tanking another career expected kekw

2020-09-04 12:18

Why is this news. Literally no one cares.

2020-09-04 12:24

0.93 rating against tier 5 a perfect pick up for North♿♿♿♿♿

2020-09-04 12:28

ty for ur comment if we need something remind me to not call u

2020-09-04 12:46

wasted

2020-09-04 12:36

Interesting

2020-09-04 12:41

STOP SIGNING THIS BOT HES LITERALLY THE WORST CS PRO I HAVE SEEN Hope this helps

2020-09-04 12:47

expected

2020-09-04 13:27

Very nice. A very interesting way to go, instead of making 6-7 mans roster

2020-09-04 15:32

Following football models here. I like it. Really fascinating route to take. I personally think Astralis’ way is better, they can sub on short notice, and the extra players get to practice and bootcamp with the team regularly, so when subbed in they won’t be lost and chemistry will be sound.

2020-09-04 15:40