Shinji Kagawa
Delort was born in Sète, France, to a father of Romani descent, and a mother of Algerian descent. He started his career at FC Sète 34. He joined AC Ajaccio in 2008, having finished top scorer at France U19 league level with 30 goals. After coming through Ajaccio's youth ranks, he attracted interest from Bordeaux and Borussia Dortmund. After enjoying a trial at Borussia Dortmund, playing in the reserve team with Mario Götze and Shinji Kagawa, Dortmund offered him a contract. However, he chose to join Nîmes Olympique because of manager Jean-Michel Cavalli, claiming "a player who leapfrogs, burns his wings". Delort also turned down a contract offer from Bordeaux.