AN ECHO exclusive which revealed Southend United’s Ryan Leonard had been inspired by pop star Justin Bieber has gone viral after the pop star tweeted about the story.

Leonard bagged three goals in four games after listening to Bieber’s music before kick-off.

And he also celebrated his stunning strike at Sheffield United by replicating dance moves from Bieber’s latest video.

The Echo’s story has now been picked up by national news outlets as well as the NME website, which alerted Bieber to his part in the Shrimpers’ form.

And, alongside a link to the story, Bieber tweeted “Fact, Lol” to his 70 million followers.

The tweet has been retweeted 17,000 times and liked 27,000 times Southend’s players have also responded to Bieber’s acknowledgement with Leonard setting up a Twitter account just to reply.

The midfielder tweeted: “It's all gone crazy... Had to make a Twitter account really.... #purpose will be popping up again on Saturday #shrimpers @justinbieber

Blues goalkeeper Daniel Bentley also asked Bieber if he fancied performing before a match at Roots Hall while midfielder Will Atkinson invited him for a drink in Southend.