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The homes of Premier League footballers have become prime targets for the sophisticated crime gangs who prey on the ultra-rich.
Armed burglars raided Raheem Sterling’s house in Berkshire on Saturday when the Chelsea striker was on the premises with his family. It is the second time Sterling’s home is known to have been broken into. The first occurred during the World Cup in 2022 when he was on England duty in Qatar.
Other known victims in the last three years include Jack Grealish, Victor Lindelof and Alexander Isak. And this is merely the tip of the iceberg. There are many more whose names do not reach the public domain.
Instances have soared since footballers’ wages rocketed during the first two decades of this century. Their wealth is greater than ever and widely known because of sporting fame and a propensity to advertise its trappings. They are easily recognizable, and their movements are predictable because of fixtures and training schedules.
Moreover, they are young, inexperienced in life and the security measures they take – often on the advice of friends, teammates, agents or security personnel from their clubs – frequently do not correspond to the value of their home and possessions.
Those targeting the United Kingdom’s ultra-rich, however, are not petty thieves but highly-skilled criminals, increasingly operating as part of an organized crime network. Crime is a global business and crime tourists have become a phenomenon in the UK in the last decade, coming from abroad with specific targets identified in mind.
A police CCTV handout of a burglary taking place in 2020. Three men were jailed after a spree which targeted houses belonging to footballers and celebrities, including Raheem Sterling
Sterling’s home was broken into last week while he was in the property
Isak’s home was raided when he was at Newcastle, by four Italians who traveled to the area and stole luxury goods worth more than £1million from three houses in April 2024. In court, where they were sentenced to between six and 10 years in jail, they were described as a professional gang of touring burglars.
They had arrived by ferry from France and scouted the targets in a campervan, including two days spent near Newcastle’s training ground. Their movements were tracked by SIM cards in mobile phones and number plate recognition.
Chilean burglars have been linked to a series of raids in the last eight years focused on enclaves popular with millionaire footballers in Surrey and Cheshire, triggering theories that organized gangs were flying different teams in and out on crime sprees. It is not known where Sterling’s assailants were from, but it illustrates the lengths to which criminals go to reach what they perceive to be easy targets and the research they do.
When a Chilean gang burgled the home of TV chef Marcus Wareing in 2020, they reconnoitred the neighborhood and sprayed three orange dots on a fence at the back of his house to mark it as a high-value target.
Jeff Hill is a former senior detective and an expert in the field. “Footballers are the perfect cohort of victims for sophisticated criminals,” he says. ‘Every year, 30 or more retire as multimillionaires and they are refreshed at the bottom end with another 30 or more who become multimillionaires.
‘There is a constant cycle of players who want to buy expensive things and make the same mistakes as the people before them – and the criminals continue to take. They protect themselves with what they think is good, but are ultimately fairly standard, security measures that will put off the volume of criminals who commit burglary or robbery in Middle England.
Those types of criminals are easily deterred and tend to stay in their lane. If they see a house protected beyond their capabilities, they will just move on to the next one. Those who target the highly-wealthy are sophisticated career criminals, who have honed their skills and in many cases act in groups to take on higher level targets at relatively low risk. They research, plan, prepare and execute meticulously. Footballers don’t appreciate what they are up against and protect themselves in a way people do in Middle England.’
Footballers’ homes are often targeted when they are out of the country, either playing in the Champions League or international tournaments, but one terrifying trend exemplified by Sterling’s ordeal is that intruders are more willing than ever to break in when the householders are at home. “That is a trend we see,” says Hill. ‘There’s probably a growing level of confidence among some criminals.’
Sterling with his family – his partner Paige Milian and their children were also at home during the break-in
Everton’s Jack Grealish is another player who has been targeted, his home in Cheshire broken into while he was a Manchester City player
High-profile footballers and WAGs, like Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodriguez, often flaunt their jewelry on social media. “It’s not a good idea,” says former senior detective Jeff Hill
Grealish’s family had gathered at his £5.6million Cheshire mansion to watch him play on TV for Manchester City against Everton when the property was raided in December 2023 and burglars escaped with jewelery worth more than £1m.
These are, it should be noted, larger than average properties. And footballers have been criticized for flaunting their wealth on social media.
‘Of course it’s not a good idea,’ says Hill. But criminals are aware they’ve got this stuff anyway. They know most footballers will own cars and watches and their partners have jewelry and expensive handbags.
‘These things are easy to resell, even the vehicles. If you’re a specialist in the world of vehicles, you can have a container lined up to put that Lamborghini in and it will be out of the country in 24-to-48 hours.’
Hill retired from the police force after more than 30 years’ service to co-found Harrier Global, a company specializing in bespoke home security for the ultra-rich. The key, he insists, is to view each property from the burglar’s perspective, spot vulnerabilities, including the information available online, and find holistic and flexible solutions depending on the environment and lifestyles of the clients.
‘It’s not about spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on a fortress like the American embassy in Beirut,’ says Hill. ‘Security in this world is about putting in layers which make the aggravation too much for serious and organized criminals.’
In the last two years, he has encountered a boom in interest from footballers. He is convinced that they have not been targeted because of their occupation but because of their high net wealth. However, young footballers without expert advice are prone to mistakes when it comes to securing their homes, even when they spend a small fortune on the hardware.
‘CCTV is a great example,’ says Hill. ‘They think CCTV monitored on an app on their phone acts as a deterrent for sophisticated criminals, when it simply does not. They do not care. They wear gloves, balaclavas and they plan to be in and out very quickly. CCTV has its merits, but it needs to be set up and monitored in a certain way and lots of footballers don’t do that.
The house of Alexander Isak was also targeted while he was a Newcastle player
Instances of break-ins at footballers’ houses have soared since their wages skyrocketed alongside the rise of the Premier League
‘In the end, they present the police with imagery of people breaking into their house and you’ll know the time they’ve broken in, you’ll know they’re wearing dark clothing and a balaclava – and that’s it.’
Other examples are installing panic rooms and buying protection dogs without proper understanding or infrastructure around them. ‘Both have merit,’ says Hill. ‘Only not in isolation. Sometimes people rely on them and every measure has the potential to fail.’
Former West Ham forward Said Benrahma, now playing in Saudi Arabia, was fined £12,000 last month after pleading guilty to owning dangerously out of control dogs.
His two XL bullies escaped, attacked a golden retriever and injured a man, near Hornchurch in Essex in July 2023. Benrahma said the dogs had escaped through a side gate left open by someone working for him at the time. Meanwhile, Everton’s Jake O’Brien announced that he had bought a new German Shepherd dog as protection amid fear of burglars.
It is a serious concern among players who know they are vulnerable because of the public nature of their work.
