 He spent five years in the club's academy developing alongside fellow youth teammates Benjamin Stambouli, Abdelhamid El Kaoutari, and Rémy Cabella.Towards the end of the 2007–08 season, Belhanda was promoted to the club's reserve team, which was playing in the Championnat de France amateur (CFA), the fourth level of French football.In the ensuing season, he simultaneously played on the reserve team and with the club's under-19 team in the Coupe Gambardella, the national youth cup competition in France.