Lucía Utrera sees interest grow as Achraf Hakimi gets his chance

Lucía Utrera Valenzuela, girlfriend of Achraf Hakimi, a first team footballer at Real Madrid since 21 August 2017, has seen a sharp rise in social media interest and this was enhanced further as her man started against Espanyol on Sunday evening.

Introducing Lucía Utrera Valenzuela

The right back was brought into the starting XI following news that Dani Carvajal, the only player in Zinedine ZIdane's squad not to have missed any game time this season, had a viral infection to his heart wall that would keep him out indefinitely. The 18-year old played the entire 90 minutes and came off the field delighted to have been involved in a clean sheet performance.

Lucia and Achraf have been together for over two years and despite this she had remained relatively unknown on social media. However, as the footballer's profile increased so too did hers totalling 12,000 Instagram followers by July 2017, as the player was about to move up, and this has now grown to over 24,000.

Achraf Hakimi trajectory

Born in Madrid in 1998, Hakimi began playing for Ofigevi in 2005, before taking up a place in the lower levels of the Real Madrid academy. He showed promise there and progressed through the ranks until he reached the Real Madrid Castilla squad in 2016, where he shone.

The defender played 16 games in Uefa Youth League across 2014-15 and 2015-16 impressing with three goals and two assists.

It was August 2017 that then saw him take the ultimate leap as he joined Zidane's first team squad. How his future pans out following the debut against Espanyol we will have to wait and see.