OverDrive: "I think donk is the most expensive player in CS right now"

Famous insider and scout Alexey "OverDrive" Birukov gave a long interview to Eric Shokov, in which he talked about his path to esports and his current activities. In particular, he shared details of how he found Danil "donk" Kryshkovets, who is currently considered one of the main rising stars in Counter-Strike.

According to OverDrive, donk was discovered at the age of 14 in one of the competitive online leagues for the CIS. Soon the scout recommended Team Spirit to sign the talented teenager.

There were many leagues in the CIS back then, and this was the simplest structure where players could be scouted. The season kicked off in one of the CIS leagues, and I saw that some player named donk was going 5-0 on the first day. I asked somebody and they told me that it was a 14-year-old prodigy. After that, I immediately contacted him and called him in. <...> We played some qualifier with him, and it immediately became clear that for a 14-year-old this is a very cool option. I passed on the contacts to Team Spirit and the management organized everything: naturally, you cannot sign a player under 18 years old, only through his parents.

Birukov admitted that as a scout he did not receive any bonuses for getting a player who, after a year and a half, moved from the academy roster to the Dragons' main team and asserted himself at the top level.

I receive a fixed salary. Of course, I have some bonuses. When the team to which I brought players is constantly growing and unconditionally reaches the tier 1 level, then I get some bonuses – transfer payments and so on. But there is nothing out of this world there, and in general the process itself is interesting.

According to OverDrive, donk is currently the most expensive player on the CS2 pro scene, and it is difficult to estimate his buyout – it may reach $5 million.

donk won't go anywhere. I think his cost is well over a million. It could be five million – a lot, very much so. I think donk is the most expensive player in CS right now. But he doesn't need to move anywhere, he needs the structure that Team Spirit has. No super-rich organization can build such a structure right here and now.

Note that in less than a year at the top level, donk has already been named the most valuable player at big tournaments three times, one of which was at the prestigious IEM Katowice 2024. In 2024, the 17-year-old Russian has the highest rating at LAN events.

Origin: www.youtube.com