Barcelona star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his family have been moved to a five-star hotel following their violent robbery ordeal – as it emerged the forward turned down advice to hire 24-hour security.
Aubameyang was reportedly assaulted by a group of four men and threatened with firearms and iron bars in front of his wife Alysha Behague and their two terrified children.
The thieves escaped with jewels after Aubameyang was forced to open a safe within the property in Castelldefels, a coastal town south of Barcelona.
Aubameyang, 33, was struck on the chin with an iron bar, while Behague suffered a blow to the head, but they decided against hospital treatment in order not to further frighten their kids.
Catalan news outlet ARA reported that Barcelona moved them to the luxury Princesa Sofia hotel and has given them psychological counselling.
The children Curtys, 11, and Pierre, six saw their parents held on the ground for an hour while the thieves ransacked the house in the early hours of Monday morning.
Police are looking for the assailants and believe they belong to an organised gang of Kosovar Albanians.
The gang apparently staked out Aubameyang’s property while he was away in the United States on Barcelona’s pre-season tour.
At that time, they tried unsuccessfully to enter the house but were deterred by an alarm. On this occasion, however, the alarm was disconnected because Aubameyang and his family were at home.
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The gang were easily able to scale a garden fence to gain access and made off in a white Audi A3.
ARA also report that Babanzila Meshak a young Gabonese footballer who plays for Terrassa, a fourth-tier side, and has been living at Aubameyang’s house was at home during the robbery but unharmed.