A FORMER Premier League footballer accused of raping a woman he met in a nightclub has told a court she wanted to have sex with him.

Adilson Tavares Varela, known as Cabral, told Hull Crown Court he had consensual sex with the 22-year-old woman at his flat in Gateshead.

The ex-Sunderland midfielder denied being "persistent, forceful and aggressive" and said he stopped having sex with the woman when she asked him to.

The woman has told the jury that Varela pinned her down on his bed and raped her after they met during a night out in Newcastle.

But the footballer said there was an attraction between them and told the court they kissed and danced together before going back to his home with friends, including retired French international Anthony Reveillere.

He said the woman asked him to go into the bedroom, where they began to have sex.

When asked about her behaviour, Varela said: "It was normal. It was a normal girl who wanted to have sex with me."

Varela replied "no" when Kitty Taylor, defending, asked him if he ever thought that the woman did not want to be doing what she was doing, if she was uncomfortable or if she protested.

Speaking through an interpreter, Cape Verde-born Varela told the jury that the woman asked him to stop after around 15 minutes because she was tired.

Varela, who has a fiancee and a three-year-old son who live in Switzerland, told the court he got dressed and returned to the others in the living room.

He said the complainant later left his flat with the others and was upset because she thought her mother would be angry with her.

Varela, who now plays for Swiss team FC Zurich, denies two counts of rape.

The trial was adjourned until Tuesday.