Astralis reportedly signs 18-year-old star for Counter-Strike 2

Danish CS:GO rifler Victor Staehr has agreed to join Astralis in 2024 after his contract with Sprout expires, according to reports.

First revealed by HLTV, Astralis and Sprout are allegedly still discussing an earlier transfer but haven’t agreed on the buyout amount yet. If the organizations can’t reach an agreement, Staehr will join Astralis next year, which will be after Counter-Strike 2 has already been released worldwide.

Related: Live Counter-Strike 2023 roster tracker: CS:GO signings and rumors ahead of CS2 release

Astralis has been targeting Staehr since 2022, and reportedly tried to trade former AWPer Asger “Farlig” Jensen for him in October 2022. The HLTV report comes after Astralis reached the quarterfinals of IEM Dallas on May 31—their first playoff run at a big event since IEM Cologne in July 2022—although it’s unclear who Staehr will replace, regardless of whether he joins the team now or in 2024.

Alexander “⁠Altekz⁠” Givskov and Christian “Buzz” Andersen are the most likely candidates to leave and create space for Staehr’s arrival, as they’re the two rookies on Astralis’ current lineup.

It seems unlikely that Astralis would part ways with gla1ve, dev1ce, or blameF. Dev1ce and blameF have consistently been getting the most frags in the team this year, while gla1ve is still the squad’s in-game leader.

Staehr is regarded as one of the best up-and-coming talents in Denmark and is Sprout’s highest-rated player in 2023 alongside Rasmus “Zyphon” Nordfoss, according to HLTV’s statistics. It makes sense that Astralis, the most prominent organization in the country, is trying to poach him ahead of CS2 despite the team’s victory at CCT South Europe Series four at the end of May.