It seems that FURIA Esports is looking to strengthen its roster with a legendary Brazilian player, and is hoping to sign Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo.
Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo in talks with FURIA Esports
That's according to Gamesarena.gg, who reports that the 31-year-old player has been in early discussions with FURIA Esports, with the team hoping that he'd be joining their roster during the player break.
That means that, should the deal go ahead, that FalleN would be joining FURIA in time for the launch of Counter-Strike 2, which currently has a vague release date of "Summer 2023." The game's release is bound to re-invigorate the Counter-Strike scene, and it seems that FURIA Esports is looking to capitalise on FalleN's experience to improve upon their recent performance in the new title - following a series of disappointing international tournaments.
FURIA is commonly regarded as one of the top teams domestically, but has routinely struggled at international tournaments. Just recently the team placed in a disappointing 15th - 16th place at the BLAST.tv Paris Major. That record is fairly representative of their performance overall this year, with other notable performances including a 5th - 6th placement at IEM Rio and 17th - 20th at IEM Katowice.
However, despite FalleN's long career in Counter-Strike (dating back to the Counter-Strike 1.6 days in 2005), it seems questionable if he'll be able to turn things around by himself. Not only has his once-legendary performance slipped somewhat over the years, but there's also reason to doubt that he is either willing or able to continue competing at the professional level for much longer.
At 31 years old, FalleN is one of the oldest Counter-Strike players, and has previously himself acknowledged that it may soon be time to step down - having once claimed that he was planning to retire in 2023.
Still, he's arguably one of the most beloved Brazilian players in Counter-Strike, having been a dominant force back in 2016 when he achieved back-to-back major wins with Luminosity Gaming and SK Gaming. Should he join FURIA, he'll no doubt serve as a morale boost for both fans and his new teammates.
And time will tell if he'll be able to improve on FURIA's international record. Whatever happens, you'll be able to see it happen live here on Luckbox - just click here to watch CS:GO live via our CS:GO match schedule. And before you bet on CS:GO, make sure that you've claimed your free 100% bonus!
