Singer-songwriter Alex Spencer who busked on Manchester streets gets song featured on FC25

• ITV Granada Entertainment Correspondent Caroline Whitmore went to meet Alex who has gone from being a teenage busker, to having a song on a soundtrack artists worldwide want to part of

A young musician who started busking aged just 12 says he is "living a dream" after his song was chosen to be part of the soundtrack for a popular video game.

Alex Spencer's track 'Nightmares' is now being heard alongside artists such as Coldplay and Billie Eilish, after it was picked to play on the EA Sports game FC25, released in September.

The 17-year-old from Droylsden in Manchester said "it has been a life-long dream" to get one of his songs on a football game because he grew up playing it.

He said: "We pitched it out to EA and they loved it and told us they would get back to us. I had my fingers crossed and when they go back to me, I was just over the moon."

Alex was given the goodnews in June 2024, but had to keep it a secret until the game was released in September 2024. "I couldn't tell anyone for a couple of months so it was a huge secret," he added.

He continued: "It's huge because I grew up playing the game and I've heard so many amazing bangers on the game.

"You've got Catfish and the Bottlemen, Sam Fender, Declan McKenna, and I remember hearing Play God by Sam Fender and that song had been on FIFA and I was like that was my dream to do that.

"I didn't think it was possible and it all came together really.

"It's huge because millions of people from all around the world play the game. I've been reading my stats and I've got people from Asia to the depths of South America playing the game and hearing my song.

"I'm getting messaged everyday from people saying 'I love your song' and 'this is the best song on FC25 this year' which is great and hopefully it will help me get to the next level."

Alex started playing the guitar when he was 10, and says his influences range from The Beatles and Oasis to the Arctic Monkeys and Ice Cube.

The singer-songwriter began busking on the streets of Manchester at the tender age of 12 and sold out his first major headline gig at the Manchester's Deaf Institute in 2023.

Alex was born in Barcelona, to a Spanish mother, and is a fluent Spanish speaker and taught himself to play the guitar after watching his father.

Part of his song 'Nightmares' is in Spanish which Alex believes made his song stand out to EA Sports.

"My mum is Spanish and I was born in Barcelona and have been fluent in Spanish all my life and we just thought we should change it up for this song [Nightmares]," he said.

"I wrote a section of it in Spanish and I think that's what EA really liked, because it's an international game.

"Hopefully I can open up my market and my songs reach more of South America and Spain."