Former Fulham goalie Sergio Rico and his family have suffered a terrifying armed robbery while they were having dinner at home.
The 33-year-old was tied up after five masked raiders smashed down the front door of the footballer property near Seville and threatened his influencer wife Alba Silva in front of their two children, including their baby son.
Alba mum reportedly had a gun put to her head at the dinner table by one of the intruders while his accomplices ransacked the house in Bollullos de la Mitacion and took valuables including cash, jewellery and designer handbags.
Police were today investigating the violent break-in after Sergio, who played for Fulham in the 2018/19 season on loan from Sevilla before joining Paris Saint-Germain, although no arrests are yet thought to have been made.
Alba admitted overnight she was still deeply traumatised following Monday night violent break-in, saying in a post to her 255,000 Instagram followers: I am still in shock after what happened, I am without words.
But the only really important thing is that thanks to God our family is safe. Thank you to everyone for your concern.
Sergio, who spent nearly three weeks in a coma and 36 days in intensive care after being hit by a mule cart and runaway horse in May 2023 while he enjoyed downtime at an annual pilgrimage in south-west Spain, has yet to comment on his social media.
But the goalkeeper, currently a free agent after playing for Al-Gharafa in Qatar, has contacted Spanish journalists to admit the gang who targeted them were extremely violent but refute reports he was badly beaten.
As well as Sergio mother-in-law and the couple children Carla, two last month, and three-month-old baby son Sergio Jr, a female maid was with them when the horror crime unfolded around 10pm on Monday.
The value of the items stolen has not been made public.
The criminals who targeted them have been described locally as non-Spaniards who are probably of Arabic origin or Albanians.
Last week former Liverpool goalkeeper Peter Gulasci and his pilates instructor wife Diana Vigh were targeted as they slept in their beds hours ahead of his current club Villarreal Champions League clash against Napoli.
He was ruled out of the October 13 match following the couple terrifying ordeal.
Four masked men are said to have forced entry to the footballer property on a luxury residential estate in Puzol near the east coast Spanish city of Valencia.
The victims ordeal lasted for around 45 minutes before the robbers fled in two high-end vehicles.
Respected local paper Las Provincias has revealed the intruders had got away with valuables worth around 200,000 euro which included jewellery, designer bags and cash.
And it said the robbers had taken advantage of the fact Gulasci and his wife had not activated their alarm to enter the house through a garage window.
The terrified couple are said to have obeyed every order the robbers gave them because their two children were sleeping in the next room and they wanted to make sure they didn wake up.
Breaking his silence about the deeply traumatic armed robbery he and his family suffered, Gulasci said in a social media post hours after it happened: Thank you so much for all your messages, kindness and support. We truly appreciate it.
The events of Monday night were deeply traumatic. Having our home and sense of safety violated is something that will take time to process, but above all, we are grateful that our family is safe.
We would now like to put this experience behind us, as much as possible, and return to our everyday lives and kindly ask everyone to respect our privacy and allow us to move forward.
Leeds forward Largie Ramazani, currently on loan at Burnley, fell prey in May to burglars who targeted his luxury home 15 miles from the Villarreal goalkeeper pad while he was playing for Valencia.
The intruders are said to have struck in a meticulously pre-planned raid after waiting for the Belgian 25-year-old to head to his home stadium for the last game of the season against LaLiga champions Barcelona.
No-one was in the house on the exclusive residential estate of Torre en Conill in Betera just north-west of Valencia when a gang got into the property and took an estimated 100,000 euro in jewellery and designer clothes.
Brussels-born Ramazani, who began his youth career at Charlton Athletic before signing a four-year deal with Manchester United aged just 16 in July 2017, had posted a video of his home near Valencia on his YouTube channel before the May 23 raid.
The video he published showed exterior and interior footage of the property and led to speculation at the time it could have facilitated the burglars raid.
The intruders are understood to have jumped over a wall before getting inside via a window and taking advantage of the fact the alarm was also not switched on.
As well as a suitcase belonging to Ramazani, who signed for Leeds in August 2024 from Spanish side UD Almeria and joined Valencia on loan in August last year, the criminals are understood to have taken property belonging to a brother and two friends living with him.
News of the violent break-in at Gulacsi home came hours after police arrested three people suspected of break-ins at homes across Spain Catalonia region, including those of Barcelona stars Joan Garcia and Pau Cubarsi.
The two men held have been remanded in prison and a 46-year-old woman released on conditional bail pending an ongoing investigation.
In May former Southampton player Jan Bednarek and his family suffered a terrifying robbery ordeal in their home in Porto in Portugal.
An intruder armed with a knife reportedly threatened the Polish international before escaping with 150,000 euro in jewellery.
The 30-year-old and his loved ones were not harmed.
Late last week, Brazil winger and former Manchester United player Antony revealed his home in Seville was burgled while he was playing for his current club Real Betis in the Champions League against Porto.
