England footballer, Jesse Lingard’s customized watch was stolen from West Ham’s dressing room during a game.
The thief struck as the on-loan Manchester United midfielder, 28, played in the Premier League defeat to Everton on May 9.
His current club West Ham say they have no idea how a thief sneaked into the heavily-guarded dressing room during a game and despite all efforts by players and staff to search the room on May 9, the watch wasn’t found.
Lingard has a collection of expensive watches and the one stolen is specially designed by Swiss maker Richard Mille.
Rooms at the West Ham’s Stadium are only accessible to players and senior officials and are constantly monitored by CCTV and also patrolled by security, so the case is a mystery to police.
A source said: “Jesse was devastated, but nobody can believe it.
“It’s completely unheard of for something to be stolen from inside the players’ dressing rooms during a game.
“Security at the stadium is top class. There are staff guarding the tunnel and all those areas — as well as CCTV all over the place.
“Of course everyone has searched high and low but it appears it has definitely been taken, and there was no option but to call in the police.
“Everyone is gutted for him, he loved that watch and thought it would be safe.
“It goes without saying Premier League footballers are well paid, and many of them have expensive items including clothing and jewellery.
“But it would just never occur to anyone that it could be taken from there. It’s a real shock.”
A West Ham United spokesperson said: “The incident happened a month ago and the Club took all appropriate steps at the time.
“While we will continue to assist with the matter, we are unable to comment further as this is now part of an ongoing police investigation.”
