Bruno Fernandes’ house was raided by burglars while the Manchester United captain was playing for the club in their Champions League defeat to Como in Italy on Wednesday night.
Fernandes’ wife Ana Pinho and their two young children were not at the luxury £4million property in Nether Alderley when three thieves struck at around 8.30pm before making off with designer jewelry and other expensive items.
The 32-year-old flew back with the United squad straight after a 4-1 defeat in Como and arrived home in the early hours of the morning.
The intruders were said to have been in the house for around five minutes before police arrived after being alerted by a neighbour who spotted them acting suspiciously in the back garden.
It’s understood that the house backs on to woods and the burglars jumped over the fence before breaking in, despite the Fernandes having installed CCTV and a high-tech alarm system.
United are supporting the Portugal star and have requested privacy at a difficult moment for him and his family who have lived at the property for the past four years.
Fernandes had his house burgled while he was on duty for Man United at Como on Wednesday
Bruno Fernandes pictured at home with his wife Ana Pinho. The pair have two young children
A spokesman for Cheshire Police said: ‘At around 8.30pm on Wednesday 21 October, police were called to reports of suspicious activity at an address in the Alderley Park area of Nether Alderley.
‘The caller reported three unknown men in the rear garden of a neighbouring property. Officers attended the scene and on arrival there was no trace of the suspects.
‘However, officers discovered that there had been a burglary at the address and a number of items had been stolen.’
Detective Inspector David Jarvis, of Macclesfield Proactive CID, told The Sun: ‘This investigation is in its early stages at this time, and we’re committed to doing all we can to trace the people responsible.
‘As part of our enquiries, we’re keen to hear from anyone who was in the local area at the time and believes they may have witnessed anything suspicious.’
Fernandes is the latest victim of the criminal gangs who prey on the Cheshire homes of football stars when they are playing away with their clubs.
They include a number of United and Manchester City players including Paul Pogba, Victor Lindelof, Jesse Lingard, Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo.
Fernandes came in for criticism after the game against Cesc Fabregas’ team for his apparent criticism of manager Michael Carrick and his coaching staff.
A week after Lisandro Martinez had taken aim at his Old Trafford bosses – and director of football Jason Wilcox in particular – Fernandes broke ranks to question why United were so passive again.
He said: ‘It’s a decision from the staff to not press man to man and sometimes leave space behind and try to get the ball, wait for them, but sometimes when you give space to these teams they get confidence.’
Asked if he meant that Carrick got his tactics wrong, Fernandes added: ‘That’s on the manager and staff to say, not me.
‘Sometimes you have to be more brave under pressure, take the risk of pressing high and making them uncomfortable. As you saw with Como, the centre back was coming to mark me in my own half. We need to do that as a team but we were unable to.
‘A team that plays through the middle with small connections, if you give them too much time and space then they can hurt you out wide.’
Having conceded to Atletico after 50 seconds last week, United were behind within two minutes as Como star Nico Paz struck the first of his two goals.
‘It’s not the first time, we started on the wrong foot, and they scored very early,’ said Fernandes. ‘Not much pressure on the ball, not many good movements with the ball, not many things going our way.
‘Conceding early makes us go into game with a mood of defeat, it’s difficult to get out of that, trying to be brave, to have the ball and make something happen. If we are not able to do that, it is going to be very difficult to get out of this situation.’
Fernandes is under contract until next summer with an option to extend until 2028. His form has dipped from last season, when he was named PFA and FWA Player of the Year and broke the Premier League record for assists in a season.
He is expected to keep the captaincy despite his outspoken comments on TNT Sports on Wednesday night.
