Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy is a “predator” who “turned the pursuit of women for sex into a game”, a court has heard.

The 28-year-old is accused of eight counts of rape, one of attempted rape and one of sexual assault.

Opening the case, Timothy Cray QC said it had “very little to do with football” and more about men who “think they are powerful”.

He said the women were “disposable” to Mr Mendy.

Chester Crown Court heard the offences against seven young women are alleged to have taken place at Mr Mendy’s “isolated mansion” home between October 2018 and August 2021.

Some women said they had their mobile phones taken away, while others said they were attacked in locked rooms.

The court was told Mr Mendy raped three women in the same night following a pool party at his mansion and a trip to Manchester’s China White nightclub.

The jury heard that one woman was drunk and remembered being in the swimming pool, with her next recollection being face down on a sofa being raped in the living room with her arms held behind her back.