Big-name League of Legends player Martin ‘Rekkles’ Larsson has spoken about the English Premier League footballer who was his idol.
25-year-old Swedish ADC player Rekkles recently moved to Karmine Corp (KC) in the French LFL – one tier below the LEC which he was previously competing in with G2 Esports.
As part of being with KC, Rekkles has a jersey number – 8. But why this number and who inspired him?
Speaking in an interview with French LEC host Lauree Valee, Rekkles said: “When I grew up and played a lot of football, my idol was Steven Gerrard from Liverpool. This guy was my guy! I loved everything he stood for, the way he played, the way he was on camera, he was very stoic.
“He felt so loyal and he just had a good aura around him. I wanted to be that – I still do I guess – so therefore when I played football I chose his number eight.”
Rekkles continued: “I haven’t had a number on my [esports] jersey, not once, so this was my first chance and I felt like it was a perfect opportunity with the whole thing of starting over and doing something different this time. It’s a perfect chance to bring that young Martin back.
“I want to be a player again that has so much drive, energy and motivation, that pushes his team forward. In the past couple of years I didn’t do that so much, and I feel like I can be that guy. I want to be Steven Gerrard for my team. Cabochard is the captain [for KC], but I want to be the other captain that brings the guys forward and has a good aura in the team. I really want to be that guy.”
“When I grew up and played a lot of football, my idol was Steven Gerrard from Liverpool. This guy was my guy! I loved everything he stood for, the way he played, the way he was on camera, he was very stoic.”
Rekkles, Karmine Corp
Rekkles had a tough year. Rekkles moved from Fnatic to G2 in late 2021 with the hopes of winning Worlds, but G2 failed to qualify for Worlds this year (Mad Lions won back to back LEC titles in 2021) and Rekkles was pushed out by the organisation, leaving him to play in the lower-tier LFL European Regional League (ERL) for 2022.
Rekkles also told Laure he’s planning on staying with KC before looking to get back into the LEC as a “more complete player and person”.
Would Stevie G be happy that he’s inspired one of the most well-known League of Legends esports players in Europe?
Esports News UK interviewed Rekkles during his early career about his tips for improving in the game.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
