A landlord was horrified when he saw the state in which a penthouse flat leased in the name of ex-Everton player Joseph Yobo had been left.
There were burn marks on the carpet, a dirty kitchen and bathroom, and holes in the wall left from a flat-screen television.
But the former Everton star says he has never lived in the apartment in South Ferry Quay, close to Liverpool Marina, nor even been there.
According to him, his younger brother, Gideon, paid the rent.
The keys to the flat were handed back to the letting agent over the weekend.
Landlord Ray Smith says he was shocked by what he found when he went to inspect it.
He said: “The state it’s been left in is just unbelievable.“
There’s bond money of £1,500, but by the look of it it will need £5,000 to put all the damage right and I will have to call in industrial cleaners.“There are iron marks on the floor, as if left by ironing, and holes in the wall left by flat-screen TVs.
“I’ve never come across anything like this before and I’m just so shocked. The place looks as if it’s been burgled.”
Former Everton defender Yobo, who is now on loan to Norwich from Turkish side Fenerbahce, played his last game for the Blues in a Premier League draw at Stoke in May 2010.
He contacted the ECHO himself to defend his conduct, saying he had been helping out Gideon.
He said: “It’s my name on the lease, but I never lived at the flat and I’ve never even been there.
“The landlord doesn’t know me and he hasn’t spoken to Gideon about this. I have property too and the landlord should have gone to the letting agents if he was unhappy.
“If he puts in a full inventory, Gideon is ready to pay for anything that is damaged.”
Gideon claimed he hired and paid for his own cleaners before moving out of the flat and arranging for the keys to be returned to the letting agent.
Yobo joined Everton from French club Marseille, initially on loan, in July 2002 as manager David Moyes’ first signing, making a permanent £3.5million switch the following summer.
He made more than 250 appearances and played in the 2009 FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea during his time at Goodison.
