degster: "I really want to play constantly against the best teams in the world"

The rising star believes he can join any team if he continues to improve as a player.

Abdul "⁠degster⁠" Gasanov will grind CS:GO as much as he can while waiting for the right offer, the 19-year-old told HLTV.org after Espada made him and Robert "⁠Patsi⁠" Isyanov available for transfer and released the rest of the team last week. The Russian AWPer averaged a 1.25 rating in 2020, but is this enough to convince the top teams, including the ones in his own region, to sign him?

"in my mind, if I grow and show that my level of play is higher than that of the rest, then any team could have a place for me,"degster told HLTV.org. "I understand that all this is conditional, but I believe that I need to continue to work on myself with even more diligence, and then people who want to win will want to play with me."

The 19-year-old had been playing for Espada since May 2019, helping the team to cement a spot inside the top 30, but that was not enough to keep the roster together. degster said that the team had been in regular contact with the management before the disbandment was announced and that the players understood why the organisation pulled the plug on the project.

The Russian AWPer added that he feels ready to make the jump to the top flight, reaffirming the same winning mentality that he had displayed when interviewed for our One for the future article.

"I really want to play constantly against the best teams in the world," he said. "I have already played against them in practice and official games, and some adaptation is necessary, but I am confident that I can do it and I will work even harder for this."

With no official matches on the horizon, it's presumably harder for a player to stay motivated, but degster already has a plan. "I'm going to play FPL and watch all the games from best teams when the season starts," degster said. On Sunday, he helped Sprout to win ESL Meisterschaft Autumn, putting up a series-high 1.34 rating in the nail-biting final against BIG.

Teams should soon be lining up to sign degster, but they will first need to reach an agreement with Espada. Smaller CIS organisations usually demand huge buyouts, but the 19-year-old has assured that Espada will not keep him from joining another team in case an interesting offer arrives. His faith will soon be put to the test as the player break is about to end.