Media: FURIA target YEKINDAR in further international pivot

According to a report by Jairo "Foxer" Junior of GameArena and further backed up by Dust2 Brasil, FURIA are reportedly set to bench Felipe "⁠skullz⁠" Medeiros and are targeting former Liquid player Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis as his replacement. The move would see FURIA pick up their second Eastern European player in recent weeks and further transition away from the all-Brazilian lineup the organization has fielded almost uninterrupted for the past eight years.

The players reportedly being swapped for each other in the near future were once teammates on Liquid for the first half of 2024, teaming with Casper "cadiaN" Møller, Keith "NAF" Markovic, and the returning Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken. Liquid performed below expectations during that period, marred by an exceptionally brutal failure to qualify for the PGL Copenhagen Major.

Skullz left Liquid in July 2024, transferring to the all-Brazilian FURIA roster. FURIA struggled early after his arrival, but managed to reach the IEM Rio semifinals and the Shanghai Major to close out the year. Since the start of 2025 though, the team has shown very poor form, leading the team to stray from tradition and field a player from outside Brazil — Kazakhstani AWPer Danil "molodoy" Golubenko from AMKAL.

Should YEKINDAR be acquired by FURIA it would mark his return to action after being benched by Liquid in December 2024. YEKINDAR's benching came after an extensive period of struggling on the server, with the Latvian's form being a far cry from the superstar in the making that was seen on Virtus.pro from 2020 to 2022.

With molodoy's arrival, long-time AWPer and IGL Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo will reportedly take on more of a rifling role. The FURIA roster will reportedly consist of:

• Yuri "⁠yuurih⁠" Santos

• Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato

• Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo

• Danil "⁠molodoy⁠" Golubenko

• Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis

• Sid "⁠sidde⁠" Macedo (Coach)