Birthday Boys- Rodrigo de Paul and Noah Okafor

Today’s edition of the Birthday Boys series sees us take a look at the career’s of Rodrigo de Paul and Noah Okafor.

Rodrigo de Paul

The attacking midfielder turns 26 today and has seen his career take a few turns, but how did it all start for Rodrigo de Paul.

The Argentinian started his career in Argentina for his youth team Racing Club and signed his professional contract for the club in 2012.

He made 56 appearances for the club in two seasons scoring six goals and getting six assists in the process.

In July 2014, he signed for Valencia and moved to Spain for £4 million. His first season in Spain saw him play 29 games and score two goals and assist four times.

The next season would only see de Paul play 15 times for Valencia and would see himself loaned out back to Racing Club in February 2016.

14 games later for the Argentinian club would see the player score one goal and get one assist in the four months that he was at the club.

In July 2016, the midfielder would move to Italy and replace Valencia with Udinese signing for the club for £2.7 million.

His first season in the Serie A would see him make 35 appearances scoring five goals and recording four assists. The 17/18 season saw him appear 39 times for Udinese recording four goals and seven assists.

The next season was the best for de Paul. He made 37 appearances for Udinese finding his shooting boots by scoring nine goals and assisting seven times.

This season sees the Argentine on five goals and three assists in 24 appearances for Udinese before coronavirus disruptions.

Noah Okafor

Noah Okafor turns 20 today and the winger has had a steady rise so far and has a lot of potential to grow into the next big thing.

In the space of two and a half years, FC Basel signed the youngster as a professional in January 2018 after impressing at every youth level.

His most successful spell came in the U18’s and U19’s. For the U18’s, he played 31 games scoring 11 goals and in the U19’s he played six games scoring twice and assisting on four ocassions.

With the first-team, the now 20-year-old played only one game in the 17/18 season for Basel. The next season saw the versatile winger play 29 times in all competitions scoring four times and assisting three times.

In January 2020, RB Salzburg signed the youngster for £10 million on a four-year deal. He has featured four times for Salzburg this season getting some game time under his belt.

Internationally, he has played at every single level for Switzerland. Rising from U15’s all the way to the senior team getting his first cap for the national team in June 2019 at the age of 19. He played seven minutes in the UEFA Nations League third-place play-off that Switzerland won 6-5 on penalties.