How Prem stars are being targeted by pro burglars who sell their loot to Gucci Gang mob led by ‘Mr Flashy’

PREMIER League stars including Jack Grealish are being targeted by professional burglars who sell their loot to criminals known as The Gucci Gang.

England’s Grealish and fiancée Sasha Attwood had £1million of watches and jewellery nicked from their Cheshire mansion.

Underworld contacts have told The Sun how criminals who used to target banks and cash vans have switched their focus to players and Wags.

They have now formed links with the Gucci Gang, reportedly led by Glen Ward, known as Mr Flashy for his love of designer gear.

Our source said the crooks scour social media accounts for stars’ flash goods and often hook up with Albanian thieves to plan raids.

UK-based robbery teams drive in convoys to a player’s property and use lookouts.

They head straight to a master bedroom as they know players like to lay out their luxury goods in walk-in dressing rooms.

Source

They break into the grounds and use telescopic ladders to enter upstairs floors.

“They head straight to a master bedroom as they know players like to lay out their luxury goods in walk-in dressing rooms.

Security systems are also less likely to be fully activated when a house is occupied.

Once they have got away, a ­luxury goods dealer is paid to guarantee the stolen items are genuine and to value them.

The haul is transported by car to Scotland then taken across the Irish Sea to the Dublin-based Gucci Gang who buy with cash, or swap it for drugs or guns.

Premier League stars targeted include England’s Jack Grealish, 30, currently on loan at Everton.

His fiancée Sasha Attwood, 28, and ten others were watching him on TV play for Manchester City when a gang broke into their £5.6million Cheshire mansion via an upstairs balcony in December 2023.

The burglars got away with more than £1million of luxury items.

Grealish, who ironically has a deal with Gucci, said at the time: “This has been a traumatic experience for all of us.

“I hope they are brought to justice so no other family has to go through what we have.”

Terrified Sasha was initially unsure if she would stay in the property, which they had moved into days earlier.

In August we revealed how Cheshire Police had closed the investigation having failed to turn up any leads.

Our source said: “These are career criminals who know the risks of being arrested for a domestic burglary are a lot lower than for an armed robbery on a cash van.

“They are based in the North West and target players living in Cheshire and Merseyside.

“They are well organised and not afraid to hook up with Albanian criminals who are experts in carrying out reconnaissance and finding weak spots in security systems.

“They are not worried if people are at home as they can get in and out within minutes and have getaway drivers.

“Luxury watches, designer jewellery and handbags are their main targets. Some watches can be worth half a million pounds.”

The criminals are looking through Instagram accounts of players and their ­partners.

Source

The Gucci Gang has links with Ireland’s infamous Kinahan cartel, whose feud with the Hutch family has seen at least 18 people murdered.

Ward, 32, is currently serving a 5½-year sentence for opening fire with a semi-automatic gun at a house party in Dublin.

The source added: “The criminals are looking through Instagram accounts of players and their ­partners.

“They spot watches, necklaces, handbags so that they know what they are looking for when they break in.

“Once they are away, they use a legitimate dealer who is trusted to give an estimate of what the stuff is worth.

“That sets the price and then they are driven up to Scotland and taken across the water to ­Ireland.

“They either keep the stuff if they want it, or sell it in Ireland or Europe where they have big links in Spain.

“They like selling stuff in euros because the biggest note is €500, in England it is just a £50 note and everyone knows how they get looked at when you try to use one.

“Getting a watch across a border is much, much easier than transporting a load of cash.

“You just wear it on your wrist and pull a sleeve over it. It could be the equivalent of £500,000 on your wrist.”

The source said that while jewellery is worth less as it needs to be broken down, watches can sell on the black market for 60 per cent of their value.

Watches can also be used as collateral in exchange for drugs which are then sold on the streets.

Our source said the burglaries are unlikely to stop soon and could even rise in the festive period.

The criminals don’t care about the effect they have on the footballers and their families.

Source

They warned: “Some players will be spending thousands on bags or jewellery. It’ll be packaged up in boxes — and ready to be stolen.”

Last month Chelsea star Raheem Sterling confronted thieves in his home and they fled empty-handed.

In July a gang targeted the home of model Olivia Attwood while she was working in Spain.

They reportedly fled with some items but not what they were seeking.

Olivia, married to Gillingham footballer Bradley Dack, posted a tearful video condemning them as “scumbags”.

In 2022 a gang ransacked a bedroom of ex-Liverpool ace Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and his partner, Little Mix’s Perrie Edwards.

‘All they care about is the money’

The couple were in at the time but only realised later that jewellery and handbags were missing.

In 2021 Love Islander Molly-Mae Hague and boxer Tommy Fury had £800,000 of items taken from their Manchester home while they were in London.

Our source added: “The criminals don’t care about the effect they have on the footballers and their families. All they care about is the money they can make.”

Some clubs, including Manchester United, have paid for security teams to guard players’ homes.

Liverpool striker Alexander Isak is among aces to splash out £30,000 on protection dogs.