Mohamed Bouhafsi has built a solid reputation for himself despite the fact that he is just 28 years old.

Generally speaking Journalists build up a reputation over decades but Bouhafsi is living proof that if you provide credible news on a consistent basis then you will be judged on the quality of your work and that age is no barrier to building the respect of your peers.

Bouhafsi was born in the great French city of Marseille on May 17th, 1992. He was educated at the Lycée Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin and left with an economic and social baccalaureate.

He then attended the European Institute of Journalism (EIJ) where he graduated in 2012.

Following his time at the EIJ, Bouhafsi landed internships at Canal Plus and Radio France before progressing to full employment at the RMC sports group as a sports journalist with the main focus on football.

His first real assignment was the 2013 Under-20 World Cup and of course the 2014 World Cup a year later, after which he became the deputy editor.

He did not last long as a deputy though because within just two years he was appointed the football editor-in-chief of RMC and BFM TV.

He is now responsible for all football related content at RMC, BFM TV and SFR Sport, not bad for someone that is not yet 30 and only fully graduated as a journalist in 2013.

Bouhafsi has used his position to not just report on football and sport but to also highlight social issues, including domestic abuse, something that he suffered with as a child.

If you follow this link here you can read an Op-Ed that he did in Le Journal about his experience, it really is an emotional piece.

The widespread acknowledgment that Bouhafsi is one of the best in the game was further confirmed when Le Figaro, a highly respected French publication, named him as one of the five future stars of sports journalism back in 2014 and they were spot on

Bouhafsi's fame extends beyond his journalism with the annual adopt a guy list (It's a French thing) listing him at number 56, sadly that is below Leonardo di Caprio but above Novak Djokovic and Pierre Trudeau.

So, what we know so far is that Bouhafsi is a highly educated talented journalist that was a bit of a high flyer and is regarded as a good looking chap but what of his journalism, is the hype and reputation justified?

Well, that all depends on what your criteria is, but when you get so many club blogs splashing his name around every time he writes an article about their club, especially when it comes to transfer rumours, then you can consider him widely respected.

Blogs and websites never stick up the names of tabloid journalists, they instead go with respected journalists using headlines such as Romano claims, Ornstein is reporting, Di Marzio confirms, etc. Bouhafsi gets the same treatment such is his popularity and credibility.

Another good guide to use when determining whether a journalist is worth listening to is their social media reach and Bouhafsi certainly has an extensive following with over 410k followers on Twitter and another 65k on Instagram.

Football fans refer to journalists as tier 1 or low tier and Bouhafsi is one of the few that is considered a tier 1 and to some extent this was reflected on a Reddit thread in the last transfer window.

Basically, Bouhafsi did a tweet on Jadon Sancho going to Man Utd and despite the fact that he got that particular call wrong, as did almost every tier 1 football journalist, it was still accepted as credible at the time as this comment from one of Reddit users shows.

“Boufahsi is tier 1, I don't think he'd mess about with his credibility just to troll Utd fans. I might be wrong but I think if he's done this then there's something in it.”

That comment alone gives you a clear indication of how football fans, in general, view the utterings of Boufahsi.

The Frenchman will get it wrong on occasions, all the best do, however, for consistency and authenticity Boufahsi is an absolute must have on any list of credible football journalist that one creates, he simply cannot be left out of the picture, certainly not when it comes to football transfer speculation, especially when it involves French players.

That said, it is not just football transfer gossip that one should follow Boufahsi for, for French speakers he does radio and TV shows, match and tournament coverage and his articles, which can easily be translated via Google, are also well worth a read, they tend to be in depth without all the hysterical nonsense that you get from the tabloids.

Boufahsi has not risen to the top at RMC for no reason, it is because he is very good at his job and you can take it to the bank that he will not risk what he has worked so hard for by posting up useless info or as some call it, fake news.

Check out our other articles in the Top 10 Football Transfer Gurus series:

• Article 1: The World’s Most Influential Football Journalist, Gianluca di Marzio
• Article 2: Fabrizio Romano, The Most Reliable Transfer Guru Who Has Perfected Journalistic Stalking
• Article 3: Arsenal Guru And Golf Caddy For Alan Shearer, David Ornstein
• Article 4: John Cross, legitimate football writer or not?
• Article 5: Mark Ogden, Award winning football writer
• Article 6: James Pearce, legendary Liverpool correspondent
• Article 8: Romeo Agresti, The King of everything Juventus
• Article 9: George Caulkin – the North-East England football supremo
• Article 10: Alasdair Gold - Acclaimed Tottenham Hotspur correspondent