Burglars used scaffolding poles in a bid to smash their way in to the home of Manchester United star Angel Di Maria as he ate dinner with his family.
A gang of three armed thugs are reported to have used the metal poles in an attempt to break through patio doors at the Argentine's mansion in Cheshire.
The 26-year-old is said to have been eating dinner with his wife Jorgelina Cardoso and young daughter Mia when the terrifying raid unfolded.
According to The Sun, the incident happened at about 8pm on Saturday, just hours after Di Maria had starred in Manchester United’s 3-1 victory over Leicester City at Old Trafford.
The family, said to have been left shaken by the ordeal, were whisked away by bodyguards after a team of security guards were dispatched to the player's home.
They were later transferred to a hotel in Manchester while investigations got underway.
A source told the newspaper that none of the raiders entered the house because the alarm went off when they attempted to smash the patio doors and that when police turned up they were 'long gone'.
'From what I heard Di Maria and his family were very shaken up - as you would be,' the source added.
Di Maria was shadowed by a security guard on Sunday as he drove from the hotel in his Range Rover, while images of his property showed a window boarded up.
The former Real Madrid midfielder’s agent confirmed the incident yesterday.
Cheshire police have confirmed they are investigating.
The Argentina international signed for Manchester United from Real Madrid in August for a British record transfer fee of £59.7million, moving to Cheshire with his wife, who he married in 2011, and daughter, who is almost 22-months-old.
Little Mia was born three months premature on April 22, 2013 - the night before her father's then team Real Madrid faced Borussia Dortmund in a Champions League semi-final.
Di Maria missed the game to be with his wife and their baby spent the next two months in intensive care before the couple were allowed to take her home.
Following Real's Champions League win over Atletico Madrid, the footballer said of his little girl: ‘My daughter taught me that everything that appears to be really difficult can end up being easy if you put the effort in and wait for the rewards.
‘She transmitted so much energy to me and it helped me to have the spectacular year that I had.
When Mia celebrated her first birthday in April, Di Maria and his wife invited all the parents they had met during their time with Mia at Madrid’s Monteprincipe Hospital, and their children.
On Mia's first birthday, Ms Cardoso, 32, wrote on her Instagram account: 'Nobody but Dad and I know how painful it was to see your face covered with medical cables. There is nothing sadder than to go home from the hospital with empty arms. Tears soaked our pillows every night. And now we can say that you are a strong, healthy, happy girl. You won the battle for your life, for our lives.'
Due to its proximity both Manchester and Liverpool, Cheshire is popular with Premier League footballers and several players' homes have been targeted by burglars in the past.
Everton and England defender Phil Jagielka was robbed at knifepoint at his home near Knutsford in 2009.
Stoke striker Peter Crouch suffered two break-ins, in 2011 and 2006, at two properties he's owned in Cheshire.
United star Darren Fletcher's wife and mother were threatened with a knife when raiders burst into their home in Bowdon in 2009.
And the wife of Bolton striker Emile Heskey was also held at knifepoint when a gang raided their mansion in Hale during his time with Wigan in 2008.
The series of raids led to claims that top footballers were installing panic rooms in their homes.
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