Luc Castaignos

Luc Castaignos (born 27 September 1992) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker for Greek club OFI.

Club Career

Early career

The roots of Castaignos' family are located in the departement 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 Football Championship, a clutch of sides were linked to the Dutch youngster. Besides Arsenal, also Liverpool, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Internazionale, Bayern Munich and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim showed their interest in the Feyenoord's top scorer. However, on 22 July 2009, Castaignos crushed all rumours and told Feyenoord manager Mario Been and technical advisor L

This page also has a version in other languages :  Люк Кастайньос (russian)