Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and his wife, Alessia Elefante, were reportedly tied up, assaulted and threatened with a knife during a violent home invasion in Paris in 2023.
Details of the incident emerged as the criminal trial opened in a Paris court, with the Italy international submitting a witness statement describing the ordeal at his former home on Avenue Montaigne.
The robbery occurred while Donnarumma and Elefante were asleep. According to court documents, the attackers reportedly gained access to the property by climbing a ladder to the roof before reaching a balcony and breaking through the apartment’s glass windows.
Donnarumma told investigators that he woke up to find one of the intruders standing over him. He was subsequently punched in the face and threatened with a knife before being ordered to surrender his luxury watches.
The attackers reportedly stole valuables worth more than £430,000, including expensive watches, cash, designer handbags and vehicle keys.
Elefante, who was pregnant at the time of the incident, also gave evidence about the attack. She said the intruders dragged her by her hair and hit her while demanding money and the access code to the property’s safe.
According to her testimony, she informed the attackers that she was pregnant, but the violence continued.
Donnarumma eventually gave the intruders the safe’s combination. However, they found nothing inside before escaping with other valuables, including high-end watches and keys belonging to a Mercedes and a Lamborghini.
French prosecutors have accused Ilyas Kherbouch and Khyan Mamouni of helping coordinate the robbery while they were in prison. Both men have denied the allegations.
Two other suspects, who were minors when the incident occurred, have already been sentenced to three and four years respectively by a youth court.
Another adult defendant, Moktar Diop, has admitted taking part in the robbery but maintains that he was not involved in any physical violence.
The trial is continuing in Paris.
Donnarumma, 27, subsequently left Paris Saint-Germain and joined Manchester City in a transfer reportedly worth £26 million. The goalkeeper’s account of the 2023 incident forms part of the evidence being considered by the French court.
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