I am the ‘Lionel Messi of FIFA’ who records footage gaming with Declan Rice and will hope to KO rivals like my idol at the World Cup

Donovan Hunt has been dubbed the 'Lionel Messi of FIFA' for years but to truly live up to the name he'll have to win the World Cup.

Hunt, better known as 'Tekkz', has been the face of FIFA Esports for more than half a decade after bursting onto the scene when he was a teenager.

Aged just 16, as a relative unknown, Tekkz propelled himself into the limelight after winning the FUT 18 Champions Cup in Barcelona.

Following that stunning early tournament success, the England star claimed £40,000 in prize money for his heroics in the PGL FIFA 19 Cup in Bucharest and a week later another £9.5K was in the bag for lifting the PGL Cup.

His meteoric rise led him to fronting Liverpool's triumph in the inaugural ePremier League — a year before Jurgen Klopp's on-field stars lifted the domestic title — on route to becoming the most successful FIFA player ever.

Tekkz is currently part of Fnatic, the world’s oldest esports organisation, who have been described as the Real Madrid of esports.

Despite this tag, the now-21-year-old still relishes being compared to Madrid's greatest ever nemesis.

In an exclusive interview with talkSPORT.com in November 2022, Tekkz said: «I forever want to be Messi. He's my favourite footballer in real life. He’s the goat. He's the best ever.»

Tekkz's potential for greatness was curiously first noticed by his mother Dawn — who bucked the trend of parents forcing their children away from video games and instead encouraged him to compete at a higher level.

Tekkz explained: «I was playing, playing, playing and I was always beating my friends. And then I was playing Division One at home and I matched the two best pros at the time and I beat them.

»I'm buzzing so I tell my mum: 'oh, I just beat the best players in the