Fake Chelsea footballer Medi Abalimba jailed for posing as Gael Kakuta

Abalimba blew thousands on champagne after passing himself off as Gael Kakuta

Medi Abalimba at the time of his arrest (PA)

A failed footballer who enjoyed a champagne lifestyle by pretending to be a Chelsea player has been jailed for four years for a £163,000 fraud.

Medi Abalimba, 25, had earned about £20,000 a week at one stage with Derby County, but he slipped down the leagues through lack of discipline and commitment.

He continued living it up by passing himself off as the French winger Gael Kakuta, staying in the best hotels in London, running up huge bar tabs and being chauffeured around in a Bentley, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Abalimba would swan into nightclubs, after they’d been warned that a VIP was on the way, accompanied by an “entourage” of drivers and bodyguards. They would then blow thousands of pounds on champagne, paid for using stolen credit card details.

He was jailed yesterday after admitting 12 offences of fraud and dishonesty, in London, West Yorkshire, Manchester and Derby.

Judge Robert Atherton told him: “There is here a catalogue of offences of sophisticated dishonesty, fraudulently representing that you were a person who you were not.”