FunPlus Phoenix confirm former GODSENT quintet signing

The final piece of the new FunPlus Phoenix roster is still being trialed and negotiated over.

FunPlus Phoenix have officially announced the completion of the transfer of former GODSENT quintet Jesse "⁠zehN⁠" Linjala, Pavle "⁠Maden⁠" Bošković, Martin "⁠STYKO⁠" Styk, Asger "⁠Farlig⁠" Jensen, and coach Jonatan "⁠Devilwalk⁠" Lundberg, who have signed three-year contracts with the Chinese organization.

The lineup is currently in the process of trialing a new in-game leader while the organization is negotiating his transfer. Although neither side commented on who the potential final player is, the most recent rumors from the last week linked the team with Chris "⁠chrisJ⁠" de Jong, who has since been replaced on MOUZ' roster by Frederik "⁠acoR⁠" Gyldstrand.

"After several months of deep talks and negotiations with multiple esports organizations and individual players, we are finally proud to present our new CS:GO roster," FPX's General Manager of EU operations, Petar "⁠peca⁠" Marković, said in a statement. "With the core of former GODSENT players, we truly believe that we will accomplish our goals in 2021."

Devilwalk expanded on the goals of the team, explaining that they are setting their sights on establishing themselves at the tier-one level in 2021. "For us, 2020 has been a real development year. It has been the time where we have integrated into the top tier scene of CS:GO, and in 2021 we are bringing much clearer ambitions to reach higher to really compete within tier one CS," the coach said.

The team are slated to make their debut under FunPlus Phoenix on Wednesday, January 27, in DreamHack Open January, a $70,000 tournament also featuring names such as BIG, Evil Geniuses, and Gambit.

FunPlus Phoenix now field the following squad:

Jesse "⁠zehN⁠" Linjala
Pavle "⁠Maden⁠" Bošković
Martin "⁠STYKO⁠" Styk
Asger "⁠Farlig⁠" Jensen

Jonatan "⁠Devilwalk⁠" Lundberg (coach)

With the signing of Devilwalk & co., FPX fields its own CS:GO roster over ten months after the Chinese side first revealed its plans to enter the first-person shooter as it became one of the founding members of Flashpoint in March 2020. The organization was close to signing the previous version of Heroic at the time, but the deal for the Danish squad fell through at the last minute after they already played their first match in the first edition of the $1 million competition.

FunPlus Phoenix ended up fielding Bad News Bears for the rest of the one and only tournament the organization has participated in to this date, as it went on to withdraw from the second season of Flashpoint later in the year amid attempts to find a new roster.