Leeds United man's 'special attention' not unnoticed by fans as his summer argument strengthens

It has not gone unnoticed by Leeds United fans that the exploits of one of their star players have been the focus of a prominent transfer journalist. Fabrizio Romano has honed in on Noah Okafor ever since publishing an exclusive photo of the Swiss winger on a private jet en route to Leeds Bradford Airport.

That kind of photo, presumably taken on the phone of a loved one or a football agent, appears routinely among Romano's transfer window content. But it's the content that has followed that has Leeds fans talking now.

In September after Okafor's first goal for the club, Romano posted on x.com that Leeds were 'very happy' with the investment made on the player. In October he reported that Okafor would be out for seven to 10 days through injury. In April Romano included a nice quote from Daniel Farke about Okafor delivering against Man Utd and pointed out that the player's end product over the preceding six games. Most recently it was another Farke quote praising his attacker, and the fact that no Swiss player had scored more goals in a single English top flight campaign than Okafor.

None of that content is particularly remarkable or out of the ordinary, they are mostly the kind of posts that do very well in terms of engagement because fans of the club involved love to see their players' achievements highlighted. What makes it worthy of note is that Romano hasn't posted on x.com about Ethan Ampadu, Anton Stach, Pascal Struijk, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Dominic Calvert-Lewin or any of the players who can be considered top performers for Leeds alongside Okafor this season. So either Romano is just a really big Okafor fan, or someone is pushing his way updates on the Leeds pace merchant.

You don't need to have an insider in the Okafor camp to be able to say that he has enjoyed his first season at Elland Road and appreciated the trust and renewed confidence Daniel Farke has given him. There is an argument that this is a breakout season for Okafor, even if he featured in Serie A for a grand club like AC Milan, because he is delivering end product in big games in the best league in the world. He's making history with goals at Old Trafford. And even if he's rarely ever seeing a full 90 minutes he has been available enough to set a career high in terms of league games and minutes played in a single campaign. His growing relationship with the fans is evident when he's whipping them up or when they're singing his new song. He has lots of reasons to be content and appreciative with his current surroundings.

You also don't need to be a genius to work out that Leeds hold a strong position when it comes to this particular player, given the three years that remain on his contract. If they decide he's key to next season's plans then no amount of helpful social media posting can coerce them. Of course, if they wanted to they could make a tidy profit this summer, because Okafor's stock has undoubtedly risen. Player sales profit will need to be generated from somewhere, though there are definitely other avenues Leeds would like to explore before considering this one.

Getting and keeping a player's name out there is part of the job, or rather part of the job some agents believe they have to do. It can help with commercial interests and social media partnerships. Some take a different tack and quietly engineer interview opportunities outside of the player's media duties at his club with carefully selected journalists. And others are content to let the player's work on the pitch do all the talking. After all, the idea that any football club considered a 'step up' from Leeds would be made aware of Okafor's progress through some social media posts and not their own scouting network or sporting director's knowledge of the globally-broadcast Premier League is a funny one.

Yet when one player receives what could be termed special attention then minds start to wonder, particularly among a fanbase that has watched players go to all manner of lengths to get moves away. There is still a leap between broadcasting your player's impressive season via one of the world's most followed channels, and 'pushing for a move' as it has been interpreted by the more cynical elements of the Leeds United hivemind. We live in a cynical world, however. Especially in football.

Perhaps the motivation of the most recent 'push' of the Swiss Premier League goal record was more innocent than Leeds fans fear. Maybe it was geared more towards country than club. Okafor has had his difficulties when it comes to the national team and manager Murat Yakin. He received a late call-up only as an injury replacement for the last set of internationals. Okafor sat on the bench for the game against Germany and then returned to Leeds before the Norway game - which was appreciated at Thorp Arch, where he had been rehabbing an injury prior to the international break. It would surely be unthinkable for a player in such red-hot Premier League form to be left out for a major tournament. Even if Switzerland has a decent record of qualifying and performing at the World Cup in the last 20 years, do they have so many attackers amassing end product in Europe's big leagues to be able to overlook Okafor?

Winger Dan Ndoye has one goal in the Premier League this season for Nottingham Forest. Left-sided attacker Joël Monteiro has four goals in the Swiss top flight for Young Boys. In the last squad were central attacking midfielders with fewer goals than Okafor. Even Rennes striker Breel Embolo can only say he has matched the Leeds man's tally of eight goals in Ligue 1. The argument to take Okafor to the States this summer is a strong one without anyone shouting the odds on his behalf. Yakin does not give the appearance of a man who would pick his squad based on social media hype or the opinions of others but you cannot ignore Premier League goals.

Or maybe someone simply wants to get people talking about Noah Okafor. In that case, it has worked. But they were talking about him anyway. That's what happens when you do so well for such a big club in such an elite league. The football always talks the loudest.