Luc Castaignos

Early career

The roots of Castaignos' family are located in the département of Landes, one hundred kilometers south of Bordeaux in the south-west of France. There, Castaignos' father, the French-born Jean-Luc Castaignos, met Castaignos' mother who is of Cape Verdean descent and holder of an Italian passport. In October 1990, two years before Luc's birth, the family moved to the Netherlands. Castaignos started his youth career at the local Schiedam club Excelsior '20. The youngster lived close to Sportpark Thurlede, the home ground of the Catholic club. His former Excelsior '20 coach, Paul Benschop, was soon convinced by Castaignos' quality: "Everyone could see how much potential he had. Whenever we conceded a goal, Luc would take care of business." At the age of 13, he participated on regional club Spartaan '20's opening day. The club from Rotterdam, youth partner of Feyenoord, saw plenty of potential in the youngster and invited him to join. Castaignos only played one season for Spartaan '20. When various professional clubs showed their interest, Spartaan '20 warned Feyenoord. At the age of 14, he joined the Feyenoord Academy in the summer of 2007. On 30 October 2008, Castaignos signed his first professional contract with Feyenoord, keeping him at De Kuip until summer 2011 with an option for another two seasons. He then progressed through the academy.

Feyenoord

After a successful performance with the Netherlands U17 at the 2009 UEFA European Under-17…

Castaignos is eligible to play for France through his parents and Netherlands through his place of birth, but he opted to play for Netherlands.

Early youth career

In September 2008, Castaignos was called up to the Netherlands U17 for the first time when he was fifteen years old and made his first international appearance on 18 September 2008 in a friendly match of the Netherlands U17, in a 0–0 draw against Spain U17. In a follow–up match against Germany U17 on 25 September 2008, Castaignos scored his first goal for the U17 national team, in a 2–1 win. Two weeks later on 8 October 2008, he scored his second goal for Netherlands U17, in a 2–0 win against Poland U17. Castaignos scored his first brace in his U17 national team, in a 2–2 draw against Norway U17 on 8 February 2009. He added four more goals throughout the UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round, including a brace against Luxembourg U17 on 21 March 2009. In April 2009, Castaignos was called up to the Netherlands U17 squad for the UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship in Germany. He played his first match of the tournament, starting the whole game, in a 1–1 draw against England U17 on 6 May 2009. Three days later on 9 May 2009, Castaignos scored his first goal of the tournament, in a 2–1 win against Turkey U17. He scored his second goal of the tournament, in the semi–finals of the UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, in a 2–1 win against Switzerland U17 to reach the final. In the…

Castaignos' playing style led the media to compare him to Thierry Henry. However, he received criticism from the Netherlands media failing to live up to his potential, as well as, his performance. Former Feyenoord striker Roy Makaay said about the player, saying: "He has an awful lot of qualities, but also shortcomings. The great thing is that he sees that himself. A good quality. Initially, Luc could only stand on his left leg, but recently he has already developed in that area. More is expected of him than is realistic with his age. That applies to more guys at Feyenoord and that creates enormous pressure. Then things are not going well, the results are not really good and that pressure will only increase. He has a lot of qualities, but also shortcomings. The good thing is that he sees it himself. A good feature. Initially Luc could only stand on his left leg, but lately he has already developed in that area." Then Feyenoord manager Mario Been said about Castaignos, saying: "He is getting better and better, I am actually only waiting for a goal. I will just let Luc be in the front line for the coming period. If he makes a few, he can do so enormously help out. Luc fends off in the duels with big defenders, uses his body better and better. He clearly has the qualities for it." Castaignos spoke about his physical appearance in his early Feyenoord's career, saying: "You demand a lot from your body in such a football year. I notice at the top how important it is to have…

In March 2011, Castaignos and his then teammate Ron Vlaar took part in a spinning marathon for the charity, Stichting Luna Sluiter Foundation. Upon joining Inter Milan, he began learning Italian. Growing up, Castaignos said he idolised Samuel Eto'o. In January 2014, Castaignos got his wisdom tooth removed and missed FC Twente's pre–season winter for three days.