Man City’s Riyad Mahrez had three luxury watches stolen in £500,000 raid on his penthouse
MAN City’s Riyad Mahrez had three luxury watches stolen in a £500,000 raid. Thieves took cash, rare football shirts and bracelets from his penthouse. Burglars carefully tracked Riyad Mahrez before sneaking into his penthouse and stealing three watches to order. The £500,000 haul included a prized Richard Mille timepiece similar to one that knife thugs […]
MAN City’s Riyad Mahrez had three luxury watches stolen in a £500,000 raid.
Thieves took cash, rare football shirts and bracelets from his penthouse.
Burglars carefully tracked Riyad Mahrez before sneaking into his penthouse and stealing three watches to order.
The £500,000 haul included a prized Richard Mille timepiece similar to one that knife thugs snatched from England’s Dele Alli two weeks ago.
Raiders cased Mahrez’s luxury block and got hold of a key fob to gain access.
As well as the £230,000 Mille, the Man City star lost a £40,000 Rolex Daytona and a £35,000 Rolex Day Date.
The gang took more than £50,000 in cash, Cartier bracelets and rare football shirts worth up to £150,000.
A source said: “Riyad is among an elite group who own a Mille.
“They are the ultimate dressing room status symbol.
“He fears he was being watched beforehand.
“There’s no doubt it was stolen to order.”
Milles cost up to £1.6million and are a favourite with the rich and top sports stars.
They are famed for their precious stones and made from the same material as space shuttles and F1 cars.
Different designs are owned by Ed Sheeran, Kanye West and footballer Neymar.
£200,000-a-week midfielder Mahrez, 29, was out when the gang sneaked into his Manchester city centre apartment.
He moved there after splitting from wife Rita.
A letter sent to residents said: “Four apartments were accessed without authority using a fob which had general access throughout the building.
“The fob in question is now in our possession, has been fully deactivated and cannot be used again.”
RAIDS’ SCORE
Mahrez has posted social media pictures of himself wearing the watches.
Earlier this month Spurs ace Dele, 24, was robbed of three watches after two raiders burst into his £2million North London home as he played pool with girlfriend Ruby Mae.
Teammate Jan Vertonghen’s home was robbed in March while he was playing for Spurs in Germany.
In January Crystal Palace’s Mamadou Sakho lost more than £500,000 of items in a burglary.
A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said of the raid on Riyad Mahrez: “At around 5pm on Friday April 24, police were called to reports that four separate apartments had been burgled at a city centre block.”
Algerian international Mahrez won the Premier League with Leicester City in 2015/16 when he was players’ player of the year.
He signed for City two years later and has since won the Premier League again, the FA Cup and the League Cup twice.
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He married Kent-born Rita in 2015 and the couple have two daughters.
Before their split, Rita told how her husband enjoyed the quiet life.
In February The Sun revealed he had been on a string of dates with fashion student Taylor Ward, 22 — the daughter of reality star Dawn, 46, and ex-Sheffield United striker Ashley, 49.
Players targeted for bling
RIYAD Mahrez is the latest footie star to fall prey to criminals targeting them for watches, jewellery and cash.
This year alone raiders have struck at the homes of Spurs’ Dele Alli and Jan Vertonghen plus Crystal Palace’s Mamadou Sakho.
Alli was held at knifepoint. Vertonghen, who was away on Champions League duty, was left distraught after his wife and children were held up in the family home.
In February last year a gang took watches, phones and car keys from Sadio Mané’s home as he played for Liverpool.
A month earlier, Marcus Rashford’s brother Dane and Tyler Alexander-Arnold, brother of Liverpool’s Trent, were robbed of their £25,000 watches when six armed raiders burst into a Manchester restaurant. Their cars were also stolen.
In 2017 Andy Carroll was followed by two men on a motorbike as he drove from West Ham’s training ground.
They pulled up alongside and demanded his £22,000 Rolex before giving chase.
Wayne Rooney’s £4million Cheshire home was hit by burglars as he played in his 2016 testimonial. Romelu Lukaku, then playing for Everton, was targeted in the same year.
- By Richard Moriarty
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