Faced with a possible conviction for multiple rape, Benjamin Mendy told the jurors it was “so easy” to pick up women while playing for Manchester City – but quickly added that a prison stint has made him realise he had been “disrespectful”.

The 28-year-old gave evidence to his trial this afternoon describing his party lifestyle while playing for the Premier League side. He also said he “did not worry” about contraception and having sex with different women on the same night and having sex with the same women as his friends on the same night was “normal”.

Chester Crown Court heard Mendy, who was remanded into custody for four months after his arrest for rape and sexual assault charges, would go clubbing up to three times a week before hosting after parties at his mansion.

The French International is accused of raping and sexually assaulting a total of six different women on five different occasions at his home in rural Cheshire between October 2018 and August last year. He denies seven counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and one count of attempted rape.

“At the time I was not thinking I can hurt their feelings or they can be upset. If they wanted to have sex and I wanted to – everything was fine and I carry on with my partying.”

Asked by his barrister Eleanor Laws KC how often he would ask women for sex, Mendy said: “Most of the time it was them. Most of the time it was them coming to me. Sometimes I would go to them.”

He was also asked how easy it was for him to pick up women, to which he replied: “Honestly, so easy. I started to receive more texts on my Instagram, on social media. I was not used to it before. Then the way I would talk to women was more direct. And the way women were coming to me like I never had that before. At the beginning [I didn’t know why], but it’s because of the status, access to a lot of things.”

He said this became “ten times worse” in the UK, adding: “Manchester City is one of the best teams in Europe so social media – to be out and I know I’m not Brad Pitt. The way they come to me is not because of my looks, it’s because of football.”

Ms Laws asked: “Did you enjoy it anyway?”

Mendy replied: “Yeah, I would not say it was bad.”

He told jurors he had time to think about his lifestyle while on remand and regrets continuing to have house parties even after being questioned by police after complaints by women about his alleged behaviour. “I did nothing wrong, I was just like carry on,” he said.

He told jurors his father died in March 2020 explaining: “When I was in prison I realised a lot of things. Inside I had some pain. When I was feeling happy was when I was drinking and partying. All my life I never had the time to really think about what I was doing. When I went there I was alone.

“You sit down all day and the only thing you can do is think. [I was thinking about] the way I was sleeping with different women and the way I was going out. The way I would forget about my football because sometimes I was upset. But now I can see, for example, talking to my friend about if I can go sleep with the same woman, this is disrespectful.”

He told jurors he was earning £4 a week in prison which taught him the “value of money” adding: “The life I had before everything I wanted I would just buy it. I was sad to go there, but at the same time I learned a lot of things about life and the way I was. To meet some people I don’t know and to bring them to my house – it’s some stuff I will not do.”

The footballer admitted he would sometimes confiscate phones from women who came to his home in Mottram St Andrew for parties if he didn’t know them well or if another player was there.

He said: “They can record, they can post. They send to some friends and send to some people who can come and rob me. I was trying to keep private.”

He told jurors his friend Louis Saha Matturie, 41, who is also on trial, would be the one inviting girls to the parties “most of the time”, and also ran errands for him like picking up groceries and driving him around.

He said he would pay Matturie in ‘change’ adding: “If he goes and buys some groceries in Tesco I can give change. If he says he needs help I can help him, I would give him £100 or £200.”

Jurors heard Mendy was born to Senegalese parents and did not have much money growing up in Paris. He was sent to a residential football academy at the age of 12 and by 16-years-old was playing professionally for Le Havre. He was signed by Marseille and then went on to play for Monaco before he was signed by Manchester City in 2016.

“First it was a dream for me to come to this country to play in the Premier League. The people I had around me – everything changed”, he said.

Mendy told the court his brother helped him find his house, known as The Spinney, and added: “I was like wow, this is the first time I have seen a big house like this. I just love it.”

Matturie, of Eccles, Salford, denies six counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault relating to seven young women. Both men say any sex was consensual.

The trial continues.