A former Premier League star was punched in the face by knife-wielding robbers who broke into his home at 1am as his family slept, the Standard has been told.

The former Tottenham Hotspur forward was attacked by six masked raiders looking to steal designer watches from the £4 million property he shares with his wife in Cricklewood, north-west London.

A neighbour of the retired international footballer, whom the Standard is not naming, said: “He told me that they were physically abused and threatened with machetes and horrible stuff like that.

“The raiders were in and out in five minutes ... these people know what they’re doing. The family are fine now, they are a strong family but it wasn’t pleasant.”

Details of the terrifying raid in May emerged after two men on mopeds tried to car-jack Arsenal teammates Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac a short distance away last Thursday.

It was one of the latest attacks by violent gangs targeting wealthy homeowners in the exclusive areas of Hampstead, Belsize Park, Highgate and St John’s Wood.

The former Tottenham star’s neighbour added: “All you can do is look at your security and be alert but you just never know. If they get in just give them what they want and let them go.

“We have private security who are brilliant for just £20 a week. There are just too many pressures on the police.”

Another neighbour said six men “armed with machetes and wearing balaclavas” smashed their way into the house.

A woman who has lived on the street for more than two decades said: “They knew what watches he had. They went in and punched him in the face.

“It’s like a cancer. One in five of us is going to get it, so you almost expect it. I have seen my parents attacked on my doorstep and yards away from my home.”

This week the Standard told how masked robbers armed with machetes burst into historian Andrew Dutton-Parish’s Hampstead home to steal £20,000 of designer watches as he hosted a dinner party.

He was punched in the face and his partner suffered a dislocated shoulder when they were attacked by four men just after 11pm on July 2.

The former footballer’s concerned neighbours are now paying for private security guards to patrol their estates.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “Police are investigating an aggravated burglary in Cricklewood that took place on May 11.

“Officers were called to a residential property at 1.14am to a report of multiple armed intruders forcing their way inside. Various items were stolen before the suspect left the scene. No arrests. Enquiries continue.”

Comedian Michael McIntyre was robbed of a £15,000 watch by two hammer-wielding men on a moped outside his children’s school in nearby Golders Green last year. He also had his car windows smashed by the brazen thugs.

Last month Strictly Come Dancing star Pasha Kovalev was robbed by moped thieves while standing outside a theatre.

The robbers reportedly rode on to the pavement outside Sadler’s Wells in Clerkenwell and snatched his phone.

Kovalev was unhurt but upset he lost the mobile which had pictures of his pregnant girlfriend, Countdown host Rachel Riley.