London, May 21 : Chelsea defender Paulo Ferreira has joined the long list of Premier League players who have been robbed by thugs, when burglars raided his two million pound home in Surrey.

According to reports, the gang disabled a sophisticated alarm and smashed a window to enter the house.

They later ransacked every room and ripped out a hidden floor safe before escaping in Ferreira's 50,000-pound BMW.

The car was later tracked with the help of GPS and found in Essex.

Investigating officials suspect that a member of 31-year-old's inner circle betrayed him, as the raiders struck hours after he jetted for World Cup training in Portugal.

"We suspect the raiders had very good information - very possibly from someone who knew him. They picked their moment perfectly, knew the house was vacant and disabled the alarm easily. They also appear to have known where the safe was," The Sun quoted a police source, as saying.

Earlier in September 2009, Everton defender Phil Jagielka was robbed by three thugs at knifepoint at his 2.5 million pound house in Knutsford.

His house was ransacked and burglars forced him to hand over jewellery and the keys to his Range Rover.

Jagielka was the 17th football player to be targeted in three years.

Blackburn Rovers midfielder Vince Grella has also been a victim after he was held at knifepoint inside his Wilmslow home, and in December 2007, burglars had confronted Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard's wife Alex Curran while he was playing away in the Champions League. (ANI)