High profile premier league footballers are increasingly becoming targets for aggressive burglaries, with the criminals taking opportunities to strike when the players are known to be away from home, playing for their clubs, or country.

The most recent victim was Newcastle United’s Brazilian Joelinton, who was able to alert police after receiving an alert of his own to tell him intruders had entered his house, on 13 January.

He was out injured at the time, but was watching his teammates from the stands, but although officers were dispatched immediately, the burglars had fled the scene when they arrived.

This comes just weeks after a raid on the home of England international Jack Grealish, with thieves striking whilst he was playing in an evening game for Manchester City, which was being shown live on TV.

Several members of his family including his partner, parents and siblings, had gathered together to watch the action at the player’s mansion in Cheshire, when the robbers forced their way into the property and were able to make off with more than £1million worth of jewellery.

The terrified relatives hit a panic button to alert police who rushed to the scene, but were too late to apprehend the culprits.

These incidents follow a long line of similar smash-and-grab raids, which investigators believe are the work of ruthless and usually armed professional gangs, possibly even coming in from abroad, with specific targets identified from the monitoring of social media platforms.

Many footballers are very loose when it comes to sharing their daily life movements, making them relatively easy targets for organised crime rings.

Security measures had been taken

In fairness to Joelinton he did everything he could, and the same can be said of the 28-year-old Grealish, who had actually been very security conscious at his £5.6million mansion, which he had only moved into shortly before Christmas.

There had been a new security fence installed at the seven-bedroom property, which is set in 24 acres of land, and contains a helipad, tennis court, full-sized football and cricket pitches, as well as its own lake.

Organised thieves always manage to find a way in though, and seemingly those inside at the time were unfamiliar with the full lay-out of the house, with it being their first visit and were only alerted when they heard dogs barking excitedly, and they became aware of noises upstairs.

They hit a panic button that had also been installed, but the sophisticated burglars had made their get away.

Captain’s family left terrified

That incident occurred only weeks after West Ham United’s captain Kurt Zouma had his £3million Essex home ransacked by an armed gang, who left with over £100,000 worth of items, as well as a significant amount of cash.

He was actually at home, having been ruled out of the squad for a game that evening, but he was powerless to do anything, as the callous thieves took his belongings in front of his terrified wife and young children.

Identifying when the players are away

Another prominent player to have been on the receiving end of a carefully planned raid was England international Raheem Sterling, who was forced to fly back from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after a group of masked robbers left his fiancée and children panic-stricken, when forcing their way into his home in Surrey.

Others affected include Manchester United’s Swedish international Victor Lindelof, whose wife and two children managed to lock themselves in a specially installed panic room, as burglars broke into their home whilst the player was away with his club.

Last year England and Chelsea’s Reece James was able to see on video a gang breaking into his London home and brazenly dragging out his safe.

No stopping even if home occupied

Two other England players are known to have been burgled whist away on international duty at the European Championship tournament; but another Premier League player who wishes to remain anonymous, was actually at home watching his team-mates play live on TV when he was targetted, with his wife taking a bath upstairs.

A vicious crew of masked intruders armed with machetes forced entry, possibly believing the player would be away with his team. They tied up the petrified couple, took valuables from the house and left the pair very badly shaken.

Expensive security still no deterrent

Over the past decade it is believed nearly 100 of Europe’s top football players and managers have had their homes raided. The trend has become prolific and that despite an increasing number shelling out small fortunes on high-tech home security systems.

It gives credibility to the belief that the perpetrators are professionals, attached to criminal gangs, who are dedicated to targetting the very wealthy and they do not mind whether it is achieved by stealth, or if necessary, brute force.

High risk and reward scenario

The national UK intelligence unit known as Operation Opal, have been tasked with dealing with these crimes and lead officer, Superintendent Carl Williams, pointed out: “Targeting footballers’ homes is a game of high risk, but also high reward. We do see criminals from abroad coming to the UK to target high value victims, so we often work with international police forces on this.”

Unlikely to be the last

Other than increased security it is difficult to know how to combat the threat. Some players, particularly the younger single ones, are taking to buying apartments in high end housing blocks, because of the feeling of greater safety and less isolation, which the huge mansions bring with them.

What does seem certain is that Joelinton and Jack Grealish will not be the last premiership players to receive a visit from an unscrupulous gang.