Maxime Bourgeois

Early career

Bourgeois began his career, at age 5, playing for his hometown club FC Brunoy. After spending a year at the club, he moved to nearby commune Villecresnes joining ASPTT Villecresnes. Bourgeois performed well at the club and, as a result, drew interest from professional club US Créteil-Lusitanos, who offered the player a spot in their youth academy. After discussing the move, Bourgeois's parents denied the move with efforts to keep the young player close to home. After two more years at Villecresnes, he was allowed move to Créteil. Despite enduring struggles early on at Créteil, Bourgeois became one of the club's most sought after prospects. After two years at the club, he had generated interest from Ligue 1 clubs Paris Saint-Germain, Lille, Strasbourg, and Monaco. He was later spotted by another Ligue 1 club, Auxerre, following a youth tournament. With Auxerre being close to his hometown Brunoy and the club's youth system being nationally recognized, Bourgeois agreed to the move signing a four-year aspirant (youth) contract until the age of 18.

Auxerre

Bourgeois initially started with the club's under-16 team. His consistent play saw him promoted to the under-18 team for the 2008–09 season. Following the season, he was promoted to the club's CFA team and made his debut on 8 August 2009 playing 59 minutes in a 1–1 draw with Mantes. He scored his first CFA goal on 30 August against La Vitréenne scoring the equalising goal in the 69th minute. The following week, he scored again, this time against Quimper Cornouaille. Auxerre won the match 2–1. Because of his successful play in the reserves, on 16 October, Auxerre manager Jean Fernandez called the player up for their league match against Bordeaux. He didn't feature in the match, but later made the bench against Paris Saint-Germain in November. Bourgeois did make his professional debut in that match appearing as a substitute in the 87th minute for Aurélien Capoue. Auxerre lost the match 1–0.