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Star top laner Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon is finalizing negotiations for a two-year contract extension with Dignitas worth approximately $2.3 million in guaranteed money, league sources told ESPN. The deal would make Huni among the highest-paid players in the League of Legends Championship Series based off annual salary average. His contract would put him near the same annual earnings as fellow South Korean top laner Jung "Impact" Eon-yeong of Team Liquid. In late 2017, Impact signed a three-year deal with Team Liquid that was valued at $3.4 million over the course of that deal, as reported by ESPN. Dignitas declined a request for comment on the deal. The potential extension for Huni comes after he and Dignitas, formerly known as Clutch Gaming, finished competing at the League of Legends World Championship in Berlin in October. Heading into the 2019-20 offseason, Huni and jungler Nam "Lira" Tae-yoo were both on expiring contracts. The team has not renewed Lira at this time. For two years in a row, Huni has been one of the most valuable free agents in North American League of Legends. In late 2018, Echo Fox, who were kicked out of the LCS in September, did not have the money to extend the top laner's contract or match what other teams could offer. The 21-year-old was then signed by Clutch Gaming, where he competed throughout the 2019 season and qualified for his third world championship tournament. Huni has had a storied career that spans from his home of South Korea to Europe and North America. Originally a training squad player for Samsung in South Korea, Huni was scouted and recruited by European team Fnatic, which he joined in 2015. Huni won two domestic titles with Fnatic and went to the worlds semifinals with the squad. He then moved to North America to compete on Immortals for a season, where nearly made it to worlds again but lost in the regional qualifier. In late 2016, Huni joined multi-time world champion franchise SK Telecom T1, where he went on to place second at the 2017 League of Legends World Championship.
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