Teen star with extra followers than Jude Bellingham has Man Utd nightmare in Kai Rooney return
Birmingham City’s Lorenzo Greer, known as Tekkerz Kid, has 1.7m YouTube followers – more than Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham – but his side lost 6-0 to Man United U18s featuring Kai Rooney
Birmingham City’s young talent Lorenzo Greer, better known as Tekkerz Kid on YouTube, boasts more followers than football superstar Kylian Mbappe. However, the 16-year-old couldn’t help his side overcome Manchester United and Kai Rooney in their recent encounter.
With a whopping 1.7 million subscribers and over 480 million views, Greer’s YouTube fame is undeniable. The channel was launched a decade ago by his parents, Nathan and Tara, who were looking for a way to offset the cost of football boots for their son.
They hoped that by reviewing boots, they might score a few free pairs.But over the years, the channel has evolved to document Greer’s journey from grassroots football to Birmingham City’s academy, with his sights set on turning pro.
He’s already rubbed shoulders with footballing giants like Cristiano Ronaldo, Jude Bellingham and even Mbappe himself, and he’s eager to carve out his own path in the sport, reports the Mirror.
Greer took to the pitch for Birmingham’s Under-18s in an away match against Manchester United. However, it was the home team who triumphed, securing a 6-0 victory in the Under-18 Premier League Cup and topping Group G with maximum points.
United’s prodigy JJ Gabriel was among the players, as was Wayne Rooney’s son Kai, who netted the sixth goal of the afternoon for Darren Fletcher’s squad.
It was a day to forget for Greer, who made his first start of the season in defensive midfield, playing two years above his age group after signing a scholarship earlier this summer.
Despite his tender years, this young lad isn’t letting anything stand in his way. Greer, an Under Armour athlete, even rubbed shoulders with PSG defender Achraf Hakimi during a trip to Paris.
The Birmingham City academy seems to have another gem on their hands with Greer, following in the footsteps of Jude and Jobe Bellingham who are now making waves at top European clubs.
While he’s yet to make his first-team debut for Birmingham City, Greer is already a local celebrity thanks to his social media presence and has ambitions to emulate Jude’s success.
Speaking to SunSport, Greer shared: “It’s crazy and doesn’t seem real. We never thought it would get this big.
“My parents were in a chip shop and had this cool idea, ‘Lorenzo likes football, why don’t we put some videos out showing how good he is?'”.
“We got about 50 views at first. Then more and more people started watching and we’ve just carried it on.”
Through his online platform, Greer has met some of football’s biggest names, but his ultimate goal is to follow in Jude Bellingham’s footsteps.
“Jude is an inspiration as someone from Birmingham and living proof it’s possible to make it,” he said. “I’ve met him a few times – at St George’s Park, in the city or even at the training ground when he was here.
“Jude is down to earth, humble and speaks to you like a normal person. It was mad to see him playing for Birmingham at 16, starting games and scoring goals. It was sick.
“Players like Bellingham, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen, who hit such a high level in their teens, are almost like one in a billion. You cannot compare yourself to people like that because they don’t come along at that age very often.
“Jude told me, ‘Keep playing your game and stay humble.’ So I’ve got to do that, keep working hard and let my football do the talking. My end goal is to be a pro footballer.”
At just 16, this young talent has already launched his own football academy and harbours ambitions of earning his coaching badges in the future.
