Manchester City follow West Ham in signing a Fifa e-sports footballer
Manchester City have made an unexpected signing under new manager Pep Guardiola, this time tapping into the e-sports talent pool to snap up a young Fifa video gamer.
Kez Brown
Kieran ‘Kez’ Brown, 18, will represent the club both in tournaments and at official fan events. The Yorkshireman is the club’s first e-sports signing, although not the first in English football, pipped to the post earlier this year by West Ham.
Diego Gigliani, senior vice president of media and innovation at City Football Marketing, said: “This is a natural evolution for Manchester City. We’ve been very involved with our partner, EA Sports, and the Fifa franchise for some time.
"As e-sports continues to gain momentum, it makes sense for our club to be part of the action and get closer to our fans, who love playing FIFA as Manchester City. We will be a bigger presence at gaming tournaments, we will have more content through our digital channels and we will activate even more with our fans at matches and club events."
Brown added: “It’s exciting; it’s something new for the club and it’s something new for me. I’m going to livestream on twitch, I’m going to be making videos for Manchester City’s YouTube channel and I’m going to be playing some city fans and representing city in future tournaments, which I’m looking forward to. This is an opportunity which not many people get the chance to do and I couldn’t turn it down.”