Premier League footballer Dele Alli had three watches worth a total of £350,000 stolen when he was punched in the face and held at knifepoint during a robbery.
Masked raiders burst in and robbed the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder and his model girlfriend Ruby Mae at their £2million North London mansion on Wednesday.
The three watches were a £150,000 Richard Mille 11-03, a £150,000 Patek Philippe 5980 Nautilus and a £50,000 Audemars Piguet Royal Oak chrono, reported the Sun.
The England star was said to have been playing pool with his girlfriend at his home near Barnet when the robbers broke in and demanded he hand over his valuables.
Alli, 24, has been isolating at the property during the coronavirus outbreak with Miss Mae, his brother Harry Hickford, Mr Hickford’s partner and a long-term friend.
It comes as a security expert warned that footballers have become a ‘challenge’ and ‘fair game’ to perpetrators by flashing pictures of their lavish lives on social media.
Premier League star Dele Alli (left) and his model girlfriend Ruby Mae (right) are pictured leaving their £2million North London mansion yesterday, one day after their ordeal
One of the three watches stolen from the home was a £150,000 Richard Mille 11-03 (file image)
A £150,000 Patek Philippe 5980 Nautilus (left) and a £50,000 Audemars Piguet Royal Oak chrono (right, file images) were also both stolen in the raid in the early hours of Wednesday
Alex Bomberg, of London-based Intelligence Protection, said: ‘You don’t need to show around pictures of your expensive watch – the moment you start doing that, you become a challenge to people, you become fair game.
‘Look at the MO (modus operandi) of how these perpetrators are going about robbing footballers: researching social media, see when they are going to be playing football.
‘They can say ‘this is the living room, there’s a patio door here that we could use, his watch collection is on that mantelpiece’. They might do drive-pasts, see a pizza get delivered one night and just knock on the door saying ‘pizza’.
‘The problem with social media is finding balance between self-promotion and getting yourself into trouble.’
He called the attack on Alli ‘brazen’ and said the criminals were taking a ‘very high level of risk’ pursuing a ‘big pay off’ in ‘portable assets’ worth tens of thousands.
Mr Bomberg, who has two decades’ experience in personal security, added: ‘This is a really bad turn of events. Something we don’t normally see in the UK is home invasions.
Police at the scene of the incident at the property near Barnet in North London yesterday
Police officers stand outside the property yesterday following the raid early on Wednesday
‘Something can go wrong very, very quickly. Robbing people’s homes when they’re empty is a very different set of risks to take.
‘It’s only a matter of time before one of these incidents turns really, really nasty.’
He added: ‘It’s only a matter of time before a player’s wife or girlfriend gets killed, the player will be out playing football … it will all go terribly wrong.’
The 48-year-old said everyone in a star’s household should rehearse drills so they react quickly and properly in critical situations and should be trained in using panic buttons installed throughout homes.
‘They need to know what part they need to play if something goes wrong, you’ve got to have a plan in place. CCTV is only good after the fact’, Mr Bomberg said.
It has also been reported, by the Telegraph, that the footballer has an overnight security guard, who it is said was ‘not aware’ of the two intruders.
Dele Alli (pictured with girldfriend Ruby Mae) was held at knifepoint and punched after robbers broke into his house in the early hours of Wednesday morning
The Tottenham and England ace was reportedly playing pool with housemates at his north London home when the robbery took place
The midfielder yesterday spoke out about the raid, describing it as a ‘horrible experience’.
He said: ‘Thank you for all the messages. Horrible experience but we’re all okay now. Appreciate the support.’
It is the third time top footballers have been targeted in the area in ten months – including fellow Spurs and Belgium star Jan Vertonghen whose home was targeted in March.
As Sportsmail exclusively revealed, the Tottenham and England midfielder was ‘thumped in the face’ during the ordeal but did not suffer serious injury.
Two males broke into the back of Alli’s North London property just after midnight on Wednesday – where his brother, Harry Hickford, has also been staying
Robbers targeted Dele Alli at his North London home and stole items of jewellery including two watches. Pictured: Dele Alli wearing one of the watches which is believed to have been stolen
Two men wearing balaclavas broke into the back of the property before threatening the Spurs star.
Following a scuffle, during which Alli suffered a minor facial injury, the two culprits took various items including jewellery and watches before fleeing.
The 24-year-old’s property is covered by CCTV and the footage has been passed on to the police, who have opened an investigation.
The player and his model girlfriend Ruby Mae, who is 23, have been together since early 2016.
She was by his side at the Euros that summer and the 2018 World Cup in Russia before they split for a short time early last year.
Following a scuffle, during which Alli suffered a minor facial injury, the two culprits took various items including jewellery and watches before fleeing
The Spurs star was thumped in the face during the ordeal but did not suffer serious injuries – the 24-year-old’s property is covered by CCTV and the footage has been passed on to police
They were back together by last summer with Alli reportedly flying Ruby out to Madrid for the Champions League final between Tottenham and Liverpool at the start of June.
As a youngster, Alli moved in with the Hickford family following a difficult upbringing.
Alli and his Spurs team-mates are expected to return to training at the start of next week as the Premier League work towards a June 12 restart date.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: ‘Police were called at approximately 00.35am on Wednesday, May 13 to reports of a robbery at a residential address in Barnet.
‘Two males gained entry to the property and stole items of jewellery, including watches, before fleeing.
‘One male occupant of the property, aged in his 20s, suffered a minor facial injury after being assaulted. He did not require hospital treatment.
‘No arrests; enquiries into the circumstances continue.’
A spokesperson for Tottenham Hotspur said: ‘We have been offering our support to Dele and those isolating with him.
‘We encourage anyone with any information to help the police with their investigation to come forward.’
The latest incident is the third time in ten months that a football has been targeted by raiders in North London.
Alli’s team-mate Jan Vertonghen fell victim to burglars earlier this year.
The Belgian’s wife and young family were at their home, in Hampstead, when four men broke in armed with knives, demanding cash and jewellery.
The 32-year-old was in Leipzig at the time for the second leg of the Champions League last 16 tie, which Spurs lost 3-0.
In July last year, Arsenal stars Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac were chased for a mile by knife-wielding motorbike riders in an attempted daylight car-jacking in north London.
The raid on Dele Alli’s home is the third similar incident involving high profile footballers in the north London area in the last 10 months. Jan Vertoghen’s home was targeted while he was away playing football, while Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolašinac were attacked in the street in Hampstead. Pictured: A map showing the areas the incidents took place in
Sead Kolasinac (muzzed by police) turns to face the moped gang trying to rob him and Mesut Ozil for their £200,000 watches in July 2019 and didn’t flinch as he tried to beat them up
The masked men appeared ready to stab the Arsenal star but police praised the footballer and said the robbers ‘didn’t bargain for him fighting back’
Kolasinac can be seen darting from the front end of the car to the rear as he faces off the assailants while protecting the passenger side door of the SUV
Mesut Ozil (dyed blonde hair) was pictured talking to officers outside Turkish restaurant Likya on Golders Green Road in north London after the attack
Ozil, a £350,000-a-week midfielder, was ambushed by the robbers as he drove his black Mercedes G-Class through leafy Childs Hill in Hampstead.
But as the thugs surrounded the 4×4, Ozil’s Arsenal teammate and childhood friend, Sead ‘The Tank’ Kolasinac, leapt out and bravely took them on.
Ashley Smith, 30, (pictured) pleaded guilty to trying to steal from Sead Kolasinac and Mesut Ozil. He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment at Harrow Crown Court
But rather than that being the end of the drama, the players were then chased through the mansion-lined streets of north London in Ozil’s 4×4 in a high-speed chase that lasted for more than a mile.
Ozil sped off and overtook traffic on the wrong side of the road as ‘ninja style’ masked moped muggers gave chase before taking refuge at a Turkish restaurant.
In November, at Harrow Crown court, one of the muggers Ashley Smith, 30, was jailed for 10 years after pleading guilty to his part in the ‘quick and violent’ attempted robbery.
Smith, 30 – who was described by judge Ian Bourne QC as a prolific ‘career criminal’ who was well known to police – was out on licence for a 42-month sentence for burglary in 2017 when he tried to carry out the street robbery on the Arsenal stars.
Accomplice Jordan Northover, 26, also admitted attempting to rob the two Arsenal footballers at Harrow Crown Court. He is yet to be sentenced.