Darnel Situ

Early career

Born in Rouen, Situ began his career playing for Football Club Saint-Étienne du Rouvray in the department of Seine-Maritime, spending his childhood years with the club's under-11 squad. In 2003, he moved up north to the next region over joining RC Lens on a youth contract. While at the Gaillette, short for the Centre Technique et Sportif de la Gaillette, Lens's youth academy, Situ established himself as one of the club's top youth prospects, alongside fellow defender William Rémy and midfielders Alexandre Coeff and Mehdi Abeid. He captained Lens's under-16 team that reached the semi-final stage of the Championnat National under-16 league, though Lens finished the group stage without a single point. While playing with the national under-16 team, Situ, alongside Rennes starlet Jérémy Hélan, drew the interest of Premier League clubs Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool, as well as Portsmouth. Situ, at one point, met with Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, but a deal could not be reached. France teammate Helan later joined Manchester City.

Lens

Despite constant rumours of Situ rejecting a contract with his parent club for a move abroad, on 4 February 2009, he signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal with Lens. For the 2009–10 season, despite being only 17, he was inserted onto the club's senior team, but was not assigned a number. Manager Jean-Guy Wallemme, instead, allowed the young player to get some stable…

Situ has represented and captained several of French national youth sides, which include the under-16, under-17, and, most recently, the under-18 team. With the under-16s, Situ made ten appearances, scoring two goals. With the under-17 team, he was designated as captain and tasked with the challenge of qualifying for the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship. Situ led the team to qualification while appearing in 17 of the 19 total matches contested, scoring three goals against England in the Algarve Cup, Belarus in qualification for under-17 competition, and against Switzerland in the tournament itself. France was eliminated in the group stage portion of the tournament following their loss to Italy. Situ joined the under-18 team in August 2009, as an underage player, playing with his elder peers at the SBS Cup in the Japanese prefecture of Shizuoka. He finished the 2009–10 under-18 campaign with nine caps and one goal, which came against Denmark.