I’m sitting in a well-known coffee shop chain waiting to meet a man who bears an uncanny resemblance to the world’s most famous footballer.

Once he walks through the door, heads turn and all the finer details are there – down to the tattoo sleeve, the hairstyle, the facial hair and the diamond stud earrings.

Get a little closer and I could be looking at David Beckham, not Dorchester Town footballer Jamie Gleeson.

Jamie, 29, from Bournemouth, is a professional lookalike of Golden Balls, and it’s spooky how similar he is to the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder.

He and Becks have the same piercing eyes, smile and even identical laughter lines.

Three-and-a-half years ago Jamie became a Beckham impersonator after people suggested he bore more than a passing resemblance.

He was soon snapped up by the London-based Susan Scott lookalike agency and has since travelled all over the world doing jobs as Beckham.

Jamie recently returned from the Far East, where he was paid to appear as David Beckham, smile and wave at fans and pose for photos.

As a sportsman he is able to really get into the part and show off his football skills, although ‘bending it like Beckham’ doesn’t come so easily, Jamie admits.

Like Becks, he is a midfielder, but one who plies his trade in the seventh tier of English football at Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division club Dorchester.

He is also married to his own ‘Posh’, Lucy Gleeson, has the same Estuary English accent and a similar-sounding voice.

Jamie said: “I get second looks all the time, wherever I go.

“I see people saying ‘he looks like David Beckham’. It does happen quite a lot.

“Sometimes, when I’m out on the town, people want to take a selfie with me.

“My wife gets a bit annoyed with it but she’s a good looking girl herself and she gets as much attention as me.

“You do get a bit of attention when you look like Beckham, but the important thing is that I don’t take it too seriously, I can see the funny side of it.

“I don’t claim to be his double, we have a lot of similarities.

“I’m always the first to say that I’m Beckham’s ugly brother.

“It’s as soon as you start thinking you’re a famous person, that’s when you start to go wrong.

“But being a lookalike has been more than worth my while.”

Jamie has teamed up with two friends and is using some of the money he has earned as a Beckham impersonator to start up a business, South Coast Inc, a ‘super studio’ in central Bournemouth.

The studio will offer services including tattooing, barbering and manicures.

People will also be able to buy clothes, shoes and art at the shop, Jamie said.

Jamie has also posted a video on YouTube showing off his barbering and grooming skills.

It takes him 45 minutes to get ready for a night out, he said.

“Getting the quiff right is important and that can take a while.

“The strange thing is that I have a very similar dress sense to Beckham anyway. I’ve always taken care with the way I look. I’m quite OCD with it.”

Jamie has met Beckham on several occasions.

“I met him when I’ve worked for some big companies. The best thing about him is for everything he’s done and all the fame he’s had he’s a normal lad. He could have become arrogant and spoiled.

“But he’s so normal. He goes out of his way to say hello to everyone. I’m just so respectful of him. He’s a real legend.”

Jamie said he’s very grateful to Dorchester FC for allowing him to combine his personal appearance work with his football duties.

He said: “I started off at Southampton FC as a youngster and I know Beckham started as a youngster at Manchester United.

“I went on to play for a few other clubs but I had enough of going round the country and wanted to live at home.

“I ended up playing for Dorchester and it’s one of those clubs with a wonderful family atmosphere and the fans are very good.

“It’s a place that would be very hard to leave and the club is very good to me.

“They know that work is work and the Beckham appearances are my job. The last time I went to do a job I had to miss a game and they understand how that works because I’m not a full-time player. I’m as loyal as I can be.”

Jamie is confident that he has a strong future ahead as a lookalike, despite Beckham retiring from the beautiful game last year.

“Beckham is probably the most famous man in the world.

“Where he’s so famous I think he’ll remain in the public eye for a while yet.

“Even now as I get older I seem to be ageing in the same way as him, we’ve got similar wrinkles!

“Being Beckham has made me more confident because like him I used to be shy and I’ve been thrown in the deep end so many times with the jobs I’ve had to do.”

And it is Beckham’s grounded attitude and love of family life that Jamie sees as their biggest similarity.

“I’m a family orientated man, my family means so much to me.

“My granddad Norman Bradley recently passed away and he was my number one fan in football.

“Every time I played football I got him a programme and now he has passed away I still put a programme by for him. He was a great man.”

Jamie said it is his parents, Theresa and David, whom he owes so much to.

“They’ve just adopted two little girls, Ebony aged 10 and Caitlin aged six. They’ve also fostered around 60 kids.

“They’re very special people and they’re the ones who should really be getting all the attention.”