Manchester United are to review player security after the break-in suffered by the family of Swedish defender Victor Lindelof during the week.
While he was playing away at Brentford, intruders got into the family home to rob the place, with Lindelof’s wife and three-year-old son inside. She managed to barricade themselves in a room until they made off. However, she was left traumatised, and has flown back to Sweden to spend some time with her family.
Lindelof missed this weekend’s game against West Ham because he is unwilling to leave his family on their own, given what happened.
It is the latest in a series of incidents involving footballers. Would-be criminals often consult the fixture to identify when the footballers are likely to be away from home.
Manchester City defender João Cancelo was injured before Christmas when he tried to fight off a gang of intruders, while former Manchester United player Ángel dí Maria and his family suffered similar trauma during their time in England, when a masked gang held them hostage in their in their own home.
Chelsea defender Reece James, meanwhile, had his home broken into and a safe (containing some of his medals) stolen while he was on Champions League duty for his club. A number of Liverpool players have been targeted in similar fashion.
Nor is the problem just confined to England.
Former Manchester City layer Nicolás Otamendi, now playing for Benfica in Portugal, had just arrived at his home near Lisbon when four armed assailants assaulted him. They forced him to open the door, where his wife and son were present. Money and watches were stolen from the property.
Meanwhile, in France, Paris Saint-Germain are paying for round-the-clock security guards at the residences of all their players after a spate of burglaries.
As they were playing away ay Nantes in Ligue 1, the criminals took advantage. They first targeting the unfortunate dí Maria again, whose family suffered another terrifying ordeal in which goods to the value of GBP 500,000 were stolen from the family safe.
On the same night, the father of defender Marquinhos was battered in the face, chest and ribs as he tried to prevent a robbery in their house.