England footie ace in £30k blackmail plot after bedding £150 trans escort

AN England international footballer was at the centre of a £30,000 blackmail plot during lockdown after bedding a transgender escort.

The Premier League star contacted the pre-op woman after finding her glamorous profile on an escorting website.

He visited her at a rented city centre flat on multiple occasions and paid her £150 for sex in April last year.

The player, a household name, had thought the illicit encounters would remain secret.

But the escort had secretly recorded him, saved his text messages and photographed him in his car outside her £1,000-a-month property.

She used the evidence against him to demand cash and the player stumped up £30,000.

He eventually went to the police and the surgically enhanced woman was arrested on suspicion of blackmail last June and questioned about the relationship.

But the investigation was left on file after the player refused to give a statement.

The Sun understands his club was made aware of the allegations after concerns were raised about his lifestyle off the pitch and whether it was a factor in poor performances on it.

A source said: “No one knows if the player knew the woman was transgender, but he was desperate to keep her quiet once she threatened to expose him.

“He handed over the cash on a few occasions before realising that the only way of stopping the situation was by going to the police. They were keen to gather evidence because blackmail is a serious crime.

“But the footballer was really worried his name would come out and it would lead to him being abused by fans.

“He just wanted to bury it so despite the efforts of officers, he refused to co-operate, which left them investigating a blackmail plot without a victim.

“They needed to see his mobile phone messages and also bank transfers, so they had no choice but to reluctantly drop the case.”

The unnamed player is not the first Premier League ace to be blackmailed over their sex life.

In 2019, a footballer jumped out of a hotel window in just his pants when two men burst into the hotel room where he was in bed with Natalie Wood.

Wood, then 28, of Cleethorpes, Lincs, was later given a suspended jail term after admitting attempted blackmail — having plotted to sell footage of the liaison as a kiss-and-tell.