Photo: LoL Esports
When talking about esports and League of Legends, the issue of money is often very popular in mainstream or non-organic media. Salary, bonuses, cash-prize... this kind of subject sells. We cannot deny that the financial dimension is interesting and that there are enormous stakes behind it. But the sums are usually fantasized and remain ridiculous compared to sports like football.
Recently, two European players, Jankos and Elyoya , have aroused the curiosity of the web. Alejandro Gomis has indeed revealed their market value (transfer cost). The sums are still very far from the transfers of Neymar or Haaland, but they still reach significant figures.
Jankos and Elyoya, players who number in the millions?
The blix reporter dug around the two junglers who are among the best at their job in Europe. They are both multiple LEC champions, the Spaniard with MAD lions and the Pole with G2. With their profile, they obviously arouse envy, but their respective teams do not intend to sell them off. There have been contacts and while both players are under contract, the sale prices are said to be in the millions.
- Elyoya : after several twists and turns, he would have left to stay at MAD Lions. Fnatic and especially G2 would have tried to recruit the player but the price asked by MAD Lions was particularly high. We are talking about figures between 800,000 (minimum sum to start discussions) and 1,100,000 euros (sum requested from G2 Esports). Earlier in the year, MAD would have even asked for 2,200,000 euros in exchange for their player between the Spring and the Summer Split.
- Jankos : sidelined by G2 Esports but still under contract, you had to pay " much more than a million euros " to buy out the player's contract. While the Samurai did not find takers, the sum would have decreased since then.
Why are these players so expensive?
We have already mentioned it, but Jankos like Elyoya are references to their position. Their level of play and experience command respect and are a big part of why they are worth so much money. But there are also other factors to consider.
- The Spaniard is a bit like the franchise player of MAD Lions , especially since the departure of Humanoid . His team has no interest in selling off this player, who is as important in sport as in marketing. One can reasonably imagine that the sum of 2,200,000 million euros was deliberately very high to deter buyers. Moreover, if we can negotiate with the team from 800,000 euros, when it comes to strengthening a direct competitor like G2, we can understand why the leaders are asking for more (1,100,000 euros).
- Jankos meanwhile finds himself in a bit of "contract jail", a popular term that was used last year for a player like Mikyx . We assume that the Samurai do not really want to see the Pole play in a top European team, since he risks causing problems for G2. In 2021, the structure had temporized with Mikyx, putting a very high price before lowering it little by little, which had resulted in seeing the player leave for a team with a slightly lower standard than expected. We can therefore speak of a somewhat inflated price that deflates over time.