Leicester City full back Christian Fuchs, a key part of the Foxes’ title-winning campaign in 2015/16, has launched an esports team, becoming the first Premier League star with his own video games team, and putting himself right at the heart of a new trend.

Get ready for that! https://t.co/ZxOX2XQKGg

— Christian Fuchs (@FuchsOfficial) June 6, 2018

The Austrian will join the likes of Shaquille O’Neal and the Brazilian footballing legend Ronaldo as famous sportspeople with investments in esports teams, and going alongside his NoFuchsGiven clothing brand, this is another example of the emerging links between football, gaming and fashion cultures on digital media.

So far, it’s been reported that Fuchs’ team will be called NoFuchsGiven and will be playing on FIFA 18. The team has already signed up four players: Singapore’s Wen Jun Chiang and Reece Rusher, Louis Campbell and Remi Thomas of England and, in addition, Fuchs himself will become an ambassador to the team’s own esports academy, which should help bring more top talent through to compete at the upper echelons of professional gaming.

The team has enlisted fan engagement company Sportego to assist the players with their social media presence and create personal brands for them. The company know the esports space well having worked on the Global eLeague esports tournament – broadcast on Goal.com’s digital channels – and Fuchs and his team seem to recognise that social media and relatable players is something which will be crucial to the success of the ssport as a whole over the next few years.

Fuchs said, “I am excited to be involved in the world of FIFA. I have been following the world of eSports from afar and believe its growth and popularity is only starting. The skill levels, decision making and strategies used by the players resemble much of what happens every week in the Premier League. There is a massive community within the world of EA and we are excited to become part of that.”