Barça Esports have reached a verbal agreement with Mohammad "
Pa1ze" Khatib, sources tell
Sheep Esports, for the next VCT EMEA season, with the intention of building a project capable of competing at the top of the region next season. Alongside the Danish Duelist, the Spanish club appears keen to continue relying on its long-time captain since late 2024, Adolfo "
Fit1nho" Gallego, as well as its coaching staff, with Juan Carlos "
meisoN" Chacón as Head Coach and Victor "
xikii" Garcia as assistant.
Barça are still in contention for one of the eight partner slots in VCT EMEA in 2027, sources tell Sheep Esports, with Riot Games expected to announce the selected clubs after Champions Shanghai.
Tier 1 in the crosshairs
Constantly evolving since his arrival in
VALORANT, Pa1ze will therefore take another step forward in 2026, joining a highly ambitious project that should be able to compete in the biggest Tier 1 battles in Europe. It is a level he has already experienced this year with Joblife and FOKUS, playing a handful of matches during the
VCT EMEA Stage 2 Play-In.
After spending the 2024 season with Gamax Esports in Challengers MENA, the Danish player joined FOKUS at the start of 2026. With the German club, he went on to win several of the first stages of the DACH league's Stage 1, earning a qualification for the VALORANT EMEA Clash. In his first taste of high-level competition, Pa1ze and his teammates, including
Viktor Zsombor "shinnok" Maglóczki and Maikls "
SerialKiller" Ždanovs, won their opening match against UCAM Esports before losing back-to-back games against Team Vitality and Beşiktaş Esports, resulting in a Top 9-12 finish.
Pa1ze would eventually qualify for Challengers EMEA with FOKUS, where the club finished Top 5-8. The same happened in the second Stage. After finishing second in VCL DACH, Pa1ze was unable to go any further and once again settled for a Top 5-8 finish in the ultimate Tier 2 competition. Upon reaching Stage 3, however, the German organization found a way to go further but came just short of the Top 3, losing to Joblife in the lower bracket, one place away from direct qualification for the Stage 2 Play-In. FOKUS would also miss out on that competition shortly after, losing to Eintracht Frankfurt in the decisive match of the LCQ.
A project that starts from scratch or almost
For Pa1ze, the breakthrough would ultimately come from France, with Joblife calling on him, ironically after the club had denied FOKUS a qualification spot, to replace Egor "chiwa" Stepaniuk, who was unavailable due to visa issues. With JL, the Danish Duelist secured a Top 9-10 finish, beating Natus Vincere, PCIFIC Esports and Fnatic along the way before falling to Fire Flux Esports in the series for a place in the playoffs.
For Barça, the season was somewhat different, with domestic success including a first-place finish in Stage 2 of Challengers Spain, but without managing to achieve better results in EMEA tournaments, with Top 9-12, Top 13-14, and then Top 9-12 finishes. Also competing in the EMEA LCQ, the Spanish side fell in the first round of the playoffs, losing 2-1 to Mandatory. Heading into 2027, the project has therefore almost completely rebuilt its starting five, with four players reaching the end of their contracts and subsequently being released, with Fit1nho the sole exception.
