The English press has uncovered the criminal plot by which Premier League stars and their wives or partners are being targeted by criminal gangs, who raid their homes and transport the stolen luxury items to Ireland and then exchange them for drugs and weapons.

The Daily Mail reports that professional criminals linked to Dublin's feared 'Gucci Gang' are targeting players living in Cheshire and Merseyside and are reportedly teaming up with Albanian criminals to steal valuables such as watches worth nearly 600,000 euros and designer jewellery.

They keep the things if they want or sell them in Ireland or Europe, where they have important contacts in Spain

The stolen goods are sent to Scotland by car and across the Irish Sea to be received by the Gucci Gang, a criminal organisation led by the imprisoned Glen Ward, with links to the notorious Kinahan cartel (whose feud with the Hutch family has caused the murder of at least 18 people)

"They keep things if they want or sell them in Ireland or Europe, where they have significant contacts in Spain," a underworld source told The Sun.

Glen Ward, known as Mr Flashy, is serving a five-and-a-half-year sentence for firing a semi-automatic pistol at a house party in Dublin.

Underworld contacts have told The Sun how criminals who used to target banks and armoured vans have switched their focus to footballers.

The "ruthless" robbery of Ashley Cole tied up in front of his children: "We're going to cut his fingers off"

Ashley Cole, the legendary English full-back who retired from football at the age of 38 in August 2019, was robbed by masked thieves at his mansion in Fetcham, Surrey, in January 2020.

In the violent robbery, which took place on January 21, as many as six thieves "dressed in camouflage clothing and balaclavas" made off with a large amount of money in jewelry.

The former Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Roma, LA Galaxy and Derby County player was tied to a chair in the raid and was left "extremely shocked" by the experience.

In the robbery and assault at his home, Ashley Cole was tied up with cable ties by the robbers, who threatened to cut off his fingers.

In the trial for the robbery, it was confirmed that Ashley Cole was tied up at knifepoint in front of his partner and two children and that one of the robbers suggested to his accomplices "let's cut his fingers off".

Footballers mobilise against home robberies: dogs, special forces, panic rooms...

In recent years, footballers of the calibre of Jack Grealish (and his partner Sasha Attwood), Raheem Sterling, Alexander Isak and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have been the victims of assaults and robberies in their homes and mansions.

Several Premier League clubs, including Manchester United, have hired security teams to protect the players' homes.

Meanwhile, some stars have their own 24-hour mobile response teams ready to respond in case of emergency.

The 'Daily Mail' reports that many Premier League players have invested thousands of euros to hire former SAS (Special Air Service) special forces agents, buy guard dogs, install panic rooms and geofencing (virtual perimeters) to try to curb these robberies.

Jesse Lingard, Joao Cancelo, Victor Lindelof, Kurt Zouma, Paul Pogba, Raul Jimenez, Ashley Cole, Riyad Mahrez, Robin Olsen, Tahith Chong or Reece James are other footballers who have suffered robberies at their homes.

How do the Gucci Gang criminals stalk football stars?

Adam Popground reports that criminals investigate footballers' Instagram posts and those of their partners in order to detect valuables before forming teams of thieves to organise million-dollar raids.

These are professional criminals who know that the risk of being arrested for a domestic robbery is much lower than for an armed robbery of a cash-in-transit van

They normally break into houses, using telescopic ladders, when the families are inside and taking advantage of the fact that at those times the security systems fail.

A criminal underworld source told The Sun that "these are professional criminals who know that the risk of being arrested for a domestic burglary is much lower than for an armed robbery on a cash-in-transit van. They are well organised and not afraid to work with Albanian criminals who are experts in reconnaissance and spotting weaknesses in security systems."