The Golden Guardians are working on a transfer agreement with Team Liquid to acquire mid laner Son "Mickey" Young-min, sources close to both teams told ESPN.
If the deal goes through, Mickey would man the starting mid laner position on the Golden Guardians, replacing Hai "Hai" Du Lam.
Following a last-place finish in the League Championship Series in March, the team discussed moving Hai to the support role -- which he played previously in a short stint with Cloud9 -- but ultimately decided to retain support Matthew "Matt" Elento. The team then settled on Mickey as a desired replacement in the mid lane.
Team Liquid has signed former Frank Fang Gaming mid laner David "InsanityXXX" Challe to replace Mickey on its Academy roster, sources said. Mickey was initially hired by the Team Liquid organization in July to compete on its starting lineup, but was moved to its Academy roster in December after the team made acquisitions of players from Immortals, including star domestic mid laner Eugene "Pobelter" Park.
Since 2014, Mickey has competed in three different competitive regions. The 20-year-old got his start in China, where he played for Team WE Academy, before returning home to South Korea to play for the Rebels Anarchy (later renamed to the Afreeca Freecs) in 2015. In July, he moved to North America to compete for Liquid.
The Golden Guardians finished with the worst record (4-14) among league peers in their first split in the North American LCS. The organization earned a slot in the league in October when its parent organization, the Golden State Warriors, successfully applied for a franchise spot. The Warriors will owe a total of $13 million in franchise fees over the next few years as the Guardians continue to compete in the league.
Golden Guardians and Team Liquid declined to comment.
