Manchester City have unveiled their newest signing – a FIFA playing teenager
The club are now the second in the Premier League to hire an eSports player to represent them in online tournaments
Man City revealed their latest signing yesterday - an 18-year-old who will play video games for them.
Kieran ‘Kez’ Brown will be playing on behalf of the club in tournaments of popular footie game Fifa 16 which will be live-streamed on the web.
The youngster will also show off his skills on the club's YouTube channel.
City refused to disclose how much Kez is getting paid.
But it's thought to be less than new manager Pep Guardiola's £15 million a year salary or midfielder Yaya Toure's £220,000 a week.
After landing his dream job, Kez said: “It’s exciting, it’s something new for the club and it’s something new for me.
"This is an opportunity which not many people get the chance to do and I couldn’t turn it down.”
Kez, from York, already has his own YouTube channel with 12,000 subscribers.
City are the latest big club to enter the growing professional eSports industry which is set to generate £360m revenue this year.
West Ham became the first UK team to recruit a pro-gamer when they signed the 2016 Fifa Interactive World Cup runner-up Sean Allen, 24, in May.
German side Wolfsberg signed 22-year-old David Bytheway, from Wolverhampton, in February.
City's media and innovation chief Diego Gigliani said: "This is a natural evolution for Manchester City.
"We will be a bigger presence at gaming tournaments." Professional gaming has grown rapidly in recent years.
Last year 334million people watched the world championships for battle arena game League of Legends.
And there will be £15m prize money up for grabs next month at the International DOTA 2 Championships Last month Sky announced the UK’s first 24-hour eSports channel.
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Gaming in the UK now has a governing body, the British eSports Association, which was launched a few weeks ago.
CEO Chester King said: "The last 12 months has seen incredible growth in eSports.
"Football clubs in Europe and basketball clubs in the US understand the great exposure and other huge benefits that come with having their own professional eSports athletes and teams."