Soccer star Max Gradel has been sidelined for six months by juju witchcraft, it has been claimed.The £30,000-a-week winger suffered cruciate knee ligament damage in a match for Bournemouth but relatives have said it was punishment for “abandoning” them.
Gradel, a pal of former Chelsea ace Didier Drogba, had a similar injury in 2013 after a family rift.
They made up and he recovered to win the African Nations Cup with Ivory Coast.
Gradel left French club Saint-Etienne for £7million but fell out with his sisters and uncles again, then collapsed in agony during a 1-1 draw with Leicester on August 29.
A source in the Ivory Coast said: “Gradel’s family has been working spiritually against him.
“He had risen from the ashes as a result of reuniting with his family, and he told them he would never become estranged with them again.
“But Gradel must have been bewitched, as after he joined Bournemouth he turned his back once more.
“He clashed with elder sister Deborah and argued with uncles. He was oblivious to the poverty his sisters live in.
“Gradel lost his mother eight years ago. He’s never been to her grave, never mind having a suitable tombstone put up for her.”
Sister Deborah added: “It will be God’s will if Max gets to continue playing football.”
A club spokesman said: “This is not something we or Max would comment on.”
Some Premier League stars were paying so-called juju men, believing they ward off injuries and boost form. Some fly to West Africa to see them.
Spurs’ Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor accused his family of using juju in a feud. Drogba told in a book of his Ivory Coast team-mate Jean-Jaques Tizie chasing bad spirits in a cemetery ritual.
More than half the Africans south of the Sahara now believe in juju. It is distinct from voodoo which uses similar rituals.
Nigerian Brown Ideye, a £10million record buy by West Bromwich Albion who now plays for Olympiacos, warned: “I know players who get involved and they can’t get out. It’s a trap. They might get short-term benefits, but in the long run they pay for it.”
The wife of a Premier League ace said how she transfers £1,000 a month to an Ivory Coast witch doctor.
She said: “To some players the juju man outranks the manager of their club.”
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