Update (December 19, 2016): Since the time of publication, Nam "LirA" Tae-yoo has reneged on the signing with Team Vitality due to his reaction to the new location and team, sources say. He is being replaced in the jungle by Lee "GBM" Chang-seok, according to sources.
Former Afreeca Freecs jungler Nam "LirA" Tae-yoo is set to join European League of Legends squad Team Vitality, sources close to the player and organization tell ESPN.
LirA will replace former Vitality junglers Ilyas "Shook" Hartsema and Kim "Mightybear" Min-su, the former who left the team on Nov. 21 and the latter who was given permission to seek other offers. He comes as the team's second choice, as they heavily pursued former Immortals jungler Kim "Reignover" Yeu-jin, who ultimately signed with North America's Team Liquid several weeks ago instead, according to sources.
LirA joins the team following its courtship of former KT Rolster support Ha "Hachani" Seung-chan, who is expected to sign with the team and replace Raymond "kaSing" Tsang in the coming days, as reported by L'Equipe and confirmed by ESPN.
The remaining pieces of Vitality -- top laner Lucas "Cabochard" Simon-Meslet and mid laner Erlend "Nukeduck" Våtevik Holm -- are expected to re-sign prior to the next season to compete with the team in 2017. The team picked up a new AD carry, former Team ROCCAT Pierre "Steeelback" Medjaldi, on Sep. 21.
Vitality failed to qualify for the League of Legends World Championship this season after taking seventh in the summer split, which did not reward a berth into the European regional finals. The team, which first entered the space with the purchase of Gambit Gaming in late 2015, will now move on to its second year in the League Championship Series.
Team Vitality declined to comment on this report.
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