Family of Everton boss in home robbery terror
TOP football manager Carlo Ancelotti was comforting his stepdaughter last night after she disturbed two balaclava-clad burglars during a raid at their family home.
Police were called to the £1.7million five-bedroom house in Crosby, near Liverpool, on Friday evening after the two intruders entered the property and stole a safe.
The 61-year-old Everton boss was out at the time but his stepdaughter Chloe McClay was in the house with other family members.
The 24-year-old actress disturbed the burglars as they made their way through the property.
The intruders, wearing black waterproof clothing and black balaclavas, ran from the house and made their getaway with the safe.
Ancelotti lives at the property with his wife Mariann Barena, a 50-year-old Canadian businesswoman he met in 2011 while living in London. The couple’s home in the Blundellsands district, a leafy area close to the beach in the coastal town, is located in a gated community with an 8ft high wall bordering the properties at the front.
The Everton boss is understood to have rushed back from the club’s training ground on Friday after being told his stepdaughter had disturbed the masked raiders.
Several football stars are understood to live in the private area, including Everton’s Brazilian striker Richarlison.
Locals said Ancelotti is currently having another home built for himself in the gated enclave.
He was said to be ‘unconcerned’ about the stolen safe, whose contents have not been disclosed.
Ancelotti, who was preparing for Everton’s match against Fulham tonight, has previously talked of his fondness for the Crosby area since moving into his new home.
He enjoys walking along the beach, the location of sculptor Sir Antony Gormley’s artwork, Another Place – 100 cast-iron, lifesize figures looking out to sea – which has become a popular tourist attraction.
Italian Ancelotti – who has also lived in Paris, Milan and Madrid during a long career at the game’s top level – recently told the New York Times: ‘It’s a beautiful place. It’s close to the sea. There’s a beautiful beach.
‘You can walk all the way to Formby on the coastal path. There are the Gormley statues, 100 of them, on the beach. I really like it.’
A number of Premier League stars have been targeted by thieves over the years in the North West.
Steven Gerrard was playing for Liverpool in a Champions League game against Marseille when masked raiders broke into his home and were confronted by his wife, Alex Curran.
Peter Crouch’s home in Cheshire was targeted twice by burglars, in 2006 and 2011. Former Everton captain Phil Jagielka was held at knifepoint when a gang burst into his home in Cheshire.
There has also been a string of robberies in Crosby over the past few months with an elderly woman held at knifepoint in her home in December and a cash box stolen by masked thugs last week.
Yesterday, in a statement, Merseyside Police said: ‘We are appealing for information after a safe was stolen in a burglary in Crosby on Friday evening.
‘The occupants of the house were unharmed. An investigation, including house-to-house enquiries, is ongoing.’