A former Premier League goalkeeper is now living in a council flat after blowing his near-£10million fortune and receiving a jail sentence. The player began his career at Borussia Dortmund, where he quickly established himself as their first choice between the sticks. He played nearly 300 games before moving to Stuttgart, commanding the biggest fee ever paid for a goalkeeper in the history of German football at the time.

He stayed at Stuttgart for nine years, making 340 appearances in all competitions and winning the Bundesliga title, before joining Manchester City in 1995. The stopper played 50 times in the Premier League and former First Division before retiring at the end of the 1996/97 season. He earned a huge amount of money during his career but saw his wealth dissipate after hanging up his gloves.

The player in question is Eike Immel, who recently revealed that he lives in social housing after wasting his fortune. Back in August, he was jailed for two years and two months with a German court hearing that he had failed to repay over 100 loans.

Immel, who is yet to serve his sentence, is also claiming benefits to make ends meet. He has been working unpaid as a goalkeeping coach with youth teams in his birthplace of Stadtallendorf.

During a recent appearance on German documentary Armes Deutschland, the former goalkeeper opened up on his financial struggles which have left him in a precarious position.

"In the past I earned millions, but these days I live on £489 a month," he said. "The state supports the people who need help. I have to say that's terrific.

"I must have squandered at least ten million euros [£8.7m] during my career. I used to be highly sought-after. I used to get the best tables in restaurants and car dealers gave me huge discounts.

"I received benefits wherever I went. My salaries grew bigger all the time and when I moved to Manchester City I was on almost £1m a year. The money would have been enough for me to live on for the rest of my life.

"But I got divorced and my children had to be looked after properly, so a big part of it went on that. Then I made bad investments in property and also gave away a lot of money. We never economised on anything."

Immel, who was declared bankrupt in 2008, added: "Money wasn't a concern for me in the past. I used to live the life of Riley. Sometimes my mobile phone bill came to 10,000 euros [£9,000] a month.

"One Christmas I spent £25,000 on clothes for my new girlfriend. I paid £1m for my home, but at one point the bailiffs were at my door. The tax office said I owed them £800,000 and I was unable to pay it.

"I did things that any normal person would say can't be true. I hadn't given enough thought to the future. Dealing with money is not one of my strengths."