Mid Laner Emil "Larssen" Larsson has reached a verbal agreement with Infinite Reality to remain in the organization's currently unnamed LoL EMEA Championship (LEC) squad, according to Sheep Esports sources.

As announced publicly last week, KOI is set to end its partnership with Infinite Reality, with the latter retaining the LEC spot previously held by the Spanish organization. At this time, it is unclear if Infinite Reality will decide on re-using its old branding of Rogue or if it will decide on trying something entirely new.

Roller Coaster

While the Swedish mid laner was originally reported to have found an agreement with KOI in September, Larssen's circumstances quickly devolved into quite a troublesome situation. While sources confirm that this verbal agreement did in fact take place, later rumors over KOI's future in the LEC would eventually lead Larssen to breaking it.

As documented on Sheep Esports, Larssen began leveraging his position in late October and actively sought other teams amidst uncertainties over the future of the organization. Per sources, KOI attempted to negotiate with players to retain key members of its roster and strike new deals, but uncertainties in organizational budgets made proposing agreements and salaries to players impossible.

Following this news, the organization would be rumored to end its agreement with KOI in early November, which would soon be backed-up by a public announcement. Luckily, with the organization's future now cleared of confusions, Infinite Reality's team has now finally entered the off-season market, finding an agreement with Larssen heading into 2024 and beyond.

For clarification, the exact duration of the Swedish mid laner's new contract remains unknown at this time. Furthermore, it is important to highlight that this agreement was established with Infinite Reality and not KOI, as the latter have parted ways with the IR.

Domino Effect

It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that Larssen's situation has proved to be a key part of most LEC and several LCS teams during this off-season.

Per sources, in addition from reportedly receiving interest from Excel Esports according to LEC Wooloo, Larssen has also found himself talking with several other LEC and LCS teams during this off-season. According to information made available to Sheep Esports, the Swedish mid laner was actively in contention for the starting spot of teams such as SK Gaming, Vitality, FlyQuest, and more.

Larssen's decision is reportedly influencing the future of several other mid laners in the region. With him now rejoining Infinite Reality's team, it is expected that many other players who were put on hold due to being seen as second options to the Swedish mid laner will soon reach agreements with other parties as the teams Larssen explored are now in a hurry to secure mid laners for the 2024 season.

Infinite Reality's Future in the LEC

As it looks to inherit past contracts of KOI, Infinite Reality is now in the process of building its squad for the 2024 season in addition to working on its future branding. As of now, former KOI Top Laner Mathias "Szygenda" Jensen, and AD Carry Markos "Comp" Stamkopoulos, are the only two other players remaining under contract heading into the next season. Respectively, the players are currently signed until the end of 2025, and the end of 2024. Currently, their future with the team remains uncertain, and there is still a possibility that they may not find a spot on the team's LEC roster for the upcoming year.

As publicly announced by Kim "Malrang" Geun-seong in October, the team's former jungler has already been allowed to seek new opportunities as he now looks to find a new team. Due to his contract expiring, former support Henk "Advienne" Reijenga has also already been reported by LEC Wooloo to be actively in search of a team for 2024.

Despite Infinite Reality having not yet decided its plans for top, jungle, ad carry, and support positions, the team is expected to make pro-active moves now that it has reached an agreement with its franchise mid laner. Being a high profile player, Larssen's presence should also be a strong argument in negotiations for the LEC team.