Meet Aston Villa footballer and social media sensation Alisha Lehmann

The 24-year-old former West Ham star has become of the most recognisable players in England Women’s Super League, with her 12 million fans on Instagram lapping up each and every image she posts.

Lehmann’s glamorous posts have led some to suggest she is more about image than sport, but she told talkSPORT that he focus is on growing women’s football on and off the pitch.

“I’m a proper footballer. I work hard every day. I want to be the best version of myself in football and that’s my first priority in life,” she stated.

“I think sometimes it’s a bit hard because obviously I play like I train every day, like everyone else, like I play every weekend and sometimes it’s hard because they make a picture of you.

“Some people just see Instagram and social media and don’t even know I actually play football.

“When I don’t post a football picture for a week, people say, ‘oh she doesn’t even play’.

“It’s not something where I wake up every day and think, oh my God, I have so many followers.

“It’s more that it’s really nice, the support and everything and it’s also a big opportunity.

“I would like to show the world that women can actually do it in football and you don’t need to just to be normal.

“You can also be a bit crazy, just be you, and use your personality to show the world who you are.”

Lehmann was in a relationship with Aston Villa player Douglas Luiz and she is openly bisexual having also dated former team-mate Ramona Bachmann.

Now she is hoping her huge presence on social media will highlight how the women’s game can be attractive to sponsors, as she suggests men’s football is still well ahead in the popularity stakes.

She is also keen to close the popularity gap between women’s and men’s football as she added:

“I don’t think you can compare anything between women’s and men’s football because it’s just so different how people look at us and how people look at them.

“It’s just not the same. Women’s football is always second class. I don’t think you’ll ever be first class because I think a lot of people still think that men’s football is the first priority.

“They don’t think about women’s football and I think that’s a big problem. Now social media is really helpful because people actually see, oh, we play football, we can play football.”

Lehmann’s huge popularity has seen companies rushing to endorse her and she released her first calendar for 2023, which has proved to be a big hit with her fans.

That drive for likes and followers looks certain to continue as Lehmann’s fame as an influencer looks certain to be more profitable than her sporting career.