T1 Makes a Firm Move with Coach Tom
In recent days, the transfer drama surrounding Zeus and Doran has garnered significant attention from the community. According to some sources, Zeus’s management company allegedly “played dirty” which led to the player not renewing his contract with T1. As a way to regain fan trust, T1’s official website recently confirmed that Coach Tom will continue with the team after re-signing his contract.
Furthermore, Tom’s new contract with T1 will be lengthy, aiming to continue their pursuit of titles in the future. This acts as a reaffirmation of T1’s strength in the transfer market, as they have enough capability to retain their key figure. Additionally, keeping Coach Tom indicates T1 has significant ambitions for the upcoming season in terms of conquering titles.
T1 Almost Lost Coach Tom to HLE
It should be noted that just before announcing the contract with Coach Tom, many T1 fans faced some “bad news.” According to sources on the FmKorea forum, HLE was very keen to acquire this coach and was ready to offer an extremely lucrative package. In fact, the amount HLE proposed could reach 1 billion won per year (approximately 17 billion VND), which is an exceptional compensation for a coach in the LCK region.
Previously, T1’s Coach Roach had to part ways with the team as he needs to fulfill military obligations next year. If T1 had lost Coach Tom as well, the team would face countless difficulties in preparation for the upcoming 2025 season. Fortunately, they made the necessary decisive move to retain their key figure in time, and most importantly, to prevent a rival (HLE) from strengthening rapidly.
From T1’s perspective, this decisive move has somewhat restored fans’ affection following the recent drama surrounding Zeus. Even though Roach left not long ago, Tom and KkOma still possess ample experience and capabilities to lead T1 in the near future. Moreover, if Doran performs well and thrives upon joining T1, this team could very well think about competing for the LCK title or even further, the MSI and Worlds next year.