Ghana defender John Paintsil woke up on Christmas morning to realise his exclusive Infiniti SUV was missing from his fleet of cars at his Trasacco Valley residence in Accra.

The right-back has returned to the country to spend the Christmas and New Year festivities with his family after getting his club career back on track in South Africa with Santos.

The ex-Fulham defender stood in shock as the space being occupied by his Infiniti JX35 2013 model valued at $45,000 laid empty on Christmas day.

The Ghana international has since made an official report to the Police to begin investigations towards the retrieval of the vehicle.

Paintsil had started playing again after putting a difficult summer behind him.

The experienced right-back becomes the second Ghanaian player this year to report a case of theft at the plush Trasacco Valley residence.

John Mensah has also filed a report of a car break-in as he was in France on club duty.