Another Premier League burglary as home of Newcastle star Joelinton is targeted during Manchester City clash

The Brazilian and his family watched on from the stands at St. James' Park as he recovers from a thigh problem. They saw the Magpies fall to an agonising 3-2 loss to the reigning champions, but their experience went from bad to worse after full time. The Daily Mail reports that Joelinton received an alert during the match that intruders were entering his home. Police were informed and a helicopter was dispatched.

Northumbria Police confirmed in a statement that the thieves had fled Joelinton's Darras Hall residence. They said in a statement on Sunday: "Shortly before 7.30pm yesterday [Saturday] police received a call from a concerned homeowner who reported that three men were inside their home in Darras Hall. Thankfully the homeowner was not home but had received a security alert on their phone and immediately reported concerns to police. Police were deployed to the scene however, those alleged to be involved had fled the scene. Enquires remain ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact us via 101, or the 'Report' pages of our website, quoting log NP-20240113-0835."

As the statement mentions, Joelinton and his family weren't home for the burglary, luck which wasn't bestowed upon Saturday's opponent Jack Grealish. The City winger was robbed of £1 million ($1.27m) in jewellery on Boxing Day at his home in Cheshire, with his fiancee and family unfortunately inside during said raid. It continues a line of Premier League burglaries in recent months, with Kevin De Bruyne, Victor Lindelof and Joao Cancelo - during his time at City - all robbed in the past year.

With his family thankfully not forced to overcome a terrifying ordeal of their own, the investigation will continue into finding the alleged perpetrators. On the pitch, Joelinton will be working on his way back to full fitness, as Eddie Howe's beleaguered Newcastle side fell within one point of the Premier League bottom half with defeat to City.