Phil Jagielka, the England international footballer, was held at knifepoint and forced to hand over jewellery when thieves broke into his Cheshire home.
The robbers might have believed that the Everton central defender was with the first team squad who were playing at Hull in the Carling Cup on Wednesday evening. He was at home nursing an injury.
They struck at the modern £2 million mansion, where the player lives with his wife Emily and two children in Mere, shortly after 8pm.
Detectives said that the raiders managed to evade the extensive security system at the double-fronted house, which includes electronic gates, CCTV and entry camera.
The raiders threatened Mr Jagielka with a knife before forcing him to hand over jewellery, believed to include Rolex watches, and the keys to his Range Rover, one of a number of luxury vehicles on the forecourt. The Range Rover was later found abandoned nearby.
It is not known whether Mrs Jagielka or the children were also in the house at the time.
The player is a regular in the Everton defence and has played once for England, against Spain in February, but damaged his anterior cruciate ligament against Manchester City on April 25.
The incident follows a number of armed robberies carried out on the homes of wealthy Premier League footballers, mostly in Cheshire, Merseyside or Greater Manchester.
The robbers seem to target the homes of players who are on international duty or whose teams are playing away from home.
In February armed robbers broke into the home of Darren Fletcher, the Manchester United player, hours after he had left the country for a Champions League fixture. The gang broke into the house in Bowdon, near Altrincham, and threatened two women before going through the house stealing property.
Last December masked robbers stole jewellery from a home, also in Bowdon, belonging to the Blackburn Rovers striker Roque Santa Cruz. The Paraguayan star was playing in an away fixture. His wife Giselle, who was at home with the couple’s two children, was robbed at knifepoint.
In December 2007 the wife of Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool and England international, was confronted by robbers at their home in Formby, Merseyside, while her husband was away playing in the Champions League.
Other players targeted in a similar fashion include Dirk Kuyt, Pepe Reina, Jerzy Dudek, Daniel Agger, Peter Crouch and Florent Sinama-Pongolle.
In July Federico Macheda, the young Manchester United star, woke up in his home in Sale, Greater Manchester, to find two men wearing balaclava masks. They stole a watch worth £20,000.
The growing number of robberies has alarmed Premier League clubs prompting some to bring in security companies for their players’ protection. There have also been reports that players are installing "panic rooms" in their properties.
A Cheshire Police spokeswoman said: “Shortly after 8pm on Wednesday September 23, three men gained entry to a house in Knutsford. The homeowner was threatened with a knife and forced to hand over jewellery and the keys to his Range Rover. Fortunately nobody was hurt during the incident and the car was found abandoned a short distance away.
“A police investigation into this incident is under way and detectives are appealing to anyone who may have any information that may assist in this investigation to contact police.”
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