Benjamin Mendy, a "predator" of "vulnerable, terrified and isolated" women, according to the Prosecutor's Office

• Trials Ryan Giggs's header to his ex-partner that puts his freedom at risk

The soccer world champion, Frenchman

accused of

in England, was presented to the jury on Monday as

who abused

French defender ,

suspended for a year by Manchester City, is being

in the north of England, for

an attempted rape and sexual assault against seven women.

Mendy denies the 10 charges against him,

which concern events that allegedly occurred between

at his home in Prestbury, Cheshire.

The footballer

"they think they have power"

In the same trial,

-no relation to former soccer player Louis Saha- is also accused of eight rapes and four sexual assaults on eight women between July 2012 and August 2021.

After the

dedicated to the selection of the jury and the organization of the hearings, the court focused on the matter on Monday with the start of the prosecution's exposition.

"The case is simple," prosecutor Timothy Cray told the jury.

"It doesn't have much to do with football. It's another chapter in a very old story:

and because they think they'll get away with it," he continued.

Cray called the two defendants "predators willing to commit serious sexual abuse" on "vulnerable, terrified and isolated" young victims, noting that some women's phones may have been seized when they came to the player's home.

Mendy was living a period of success and

The prosecutor also shed light on

which until now had not been clarified.

Mendy's friend Saha, according to Cray, was responsible for

and creating situations where they could be raped and sexually assaulted."

"Ask yourself," Cray challenged jurors,

in the situations these women lived through?"

At that time, Mendy was living "a period of success and

the prosecutor added.

"The doors of restaurants and nightclubs were opened to him,

and "Saha was part of this world, he contacted the girls, he called them," the accusation detailed.

According to the prosecutor, the defendants

and were "willing to cross the line" of consent "again and again".

"In our time, no one can ignore that

Cray recalled, whether he's "at the bar, in an evening gown, or in a footballer's apartment," he pointed out.

The highly publicized trial at Chester Crown Court in southwest Manchester is expected to

The most expensive defender

Winner of the 2018 World Cup

with the France team, where he played an important role, Mendy spent more than four months, from August 2021 to January 2022, in

.

Released in early January, the French footballer was

pending trial.

Trained in Le Havre, he became known at Olympique de Marseille and spent a season at Monaco.

Mendy became

in 2017 after the Citizens shelled out 52 million pounds (61.4 million euros today, $62.5 million) to sign him.

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