{"id":558334,"date":"2026-03-23T04:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T04:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/558334\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T04:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T04:12:10","slug":"football-news-2026-alisha-lehmann-swiss-star-with-27-million-social-media-followers-almost-quit-hatred-transfer-movement-followers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/558334\/","title":{"rendered":"Football news 2026 | Alisha Lehmann, Swiss star with 27 million social media followers almost quit, hatred, transfer movement, followers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alisha Lehmann is one of the most recognisable faces in women’s football<\/a>, yet she admits she almost quit the game due to online commentary that she wasn’t a real footballer.<\/p>\n

The Leicester City star does not live the typical life of a football player, with over 27 million people on social media following her journey as professional athlete who is into fashion.<\/p>\n

Lehmann’s image has always drawn headlines throughout her career, even booking her a spot on the catwalk at Milan Fashion Week last year.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Dragons ‘learned nothing’ as six-year worst puts coach in danger<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Hull, Spencer win medals as American schoolboy creates history<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Unlikely hero fires Man City to League Cup glory<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Alisha<\/p>\n

Alisha Lehmann arrives at Leicester City training.\u00a0Instagram<\/p>\n

But with that online fame has brought on mass public attention that has resulted in regular misconceptions and criticism about Lehmann’s commitment to being a professional athlete.<\/p>\n

That was proven to be the case when she joined Leicester City<\/a> in January, with conversations about her transfer focusing on her commercial appeal rather than her footballing skills.<\/p>\n

“When I was younger it affected me more because I didn’t know how to handle the situation,” the 26-year-old forward told BBC Sport.<\/p>\n

“There were moments where I was really sad and I used to ask my mum if I could not play football anymore.<\/p>\n

“People don’t know how much effort I actually put in when they say ‘Oh, she’s not a footballer’. They just think, oh she goes to training and then goes home and does TikTok’s or whatever.<\/p>\n

“But that is really not true. I rest so well, I sleep every afternoon and I would never do anything before training or a game that would affect how I play. I care so much about it.<\/p>\n

“But now, I’m fine. I love my life and the people around me and I don’t get affected by it.<\/p>\n

“It’s just an opinion, as is everything in life, so I just focus on myself. If I am happy and do the best in every situation, that for me is fine.”<\/p>\n

Football’s new home, Stan Sport<\/a>, is the only place to watch the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FA Cup, WSL, European World Cup qualifiers, J.League, NSWL and K League<\/p>\n

\"Alisha<\/p>\n

Alisha Lehmann (far right) celebrates with her Swiss teammates during an international friendly.\u00a0Instagram<\/p>\n

The Swiss international has always planned to use her social media platforms as an avenue to build the profile of women’s football and bring a new audience to the game.<\/p>\n

That has been the case since her days at West Ham<\/a> as a teenager in 2018. She then had short stints at Everton<\/a> and Aston Villa<\/a> before she eventually made the move to Juventus in 2024. Late last year she inked a three-year deal with Como, but departed early to join Leicester City.<\/p>\n

She has significant influence over the women’s game, with retired US star Alex Morgan the second-most followed female player with 9 million followers. Lehmann has 16.8 million followers.<\/p>\n

Australian captain Sam Kerr<\/a> is considered to be one of the most influential in the Women’s Super League on social media, but she boasts a comparatively meagre 1.7 million followers on Instagram.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes it is frustrating,” Lehmann continued, speaking about her critics.<\/p>\n

\"Alisha<\/p>\n

Alisha Lehmann in action for Leicester City training.\u00a0Instagram<\/p>\n

“I’m very professional. I always give everything on the pitch and I want to be the best. If I’ve not done my best when I check my data after training, I will do extra rounds to try to improve. <\/p>\n

“People can think what they want but everything I do is focused on being the best player I can be.”<\/p>\n

Lehmann has settled into life back in England, admitting it “feels like home”.<\/p>\n

Her Leicester City side currently sit at the bottom of the table with just two wins this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alisha Lehmann is one of the most recognisable faces in women’s football, yet she admits she almost quit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-558334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/558335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}