S1mple's departure from NAVI looms: what comes next?

According to HLTV journalists, the NAVI team is actively searching for a replacement for Alexander "s1mple" Kostylev in their CS2 roster. Currently, the club is in negotiations to acquire the contract of Igor "w0nderful" Zhdanov from Sprout. If the deal goes through successfully, the Ukrainian AWP player will take s1mple's place in the team's roster.

Previously, s1mple mentioned on his stream that he has doubts about his ability to participate in an upcoming tournament. It's likely that he was referring to the BLAST Premier Fall Final scheduled from November 22 to 26 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Rumors of Kostylev's potential departure from NAVI began circulating after he missed IEM Sydney 2023 due to complications with obtaining permanent residency in the European Union. During the tournament, he was temporarily replaced by the team's coach, Andrey "B1ad3" Gorodenskiy. The Ukrainian squad exited the competition after losing to FaZe Clan.