According to the official Apache Kafka client documentation, Kafka uses SLF4J (Simple Logging Facade for Java) for all client-side logging. SLF4J is only an abstraction layer and requires a concrete logging implementation to route log messages to the actual logging framework used by the application.

Since the application uses Log4j2, an SLF4J-to-Log4j2 binding must be provided. The correct and officially recommended dependency is org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-slf4j-impl. This dependency acts as the SLF4J implementation and forwards all Kafka client log messages to Log4j2, ensuring consistent logging across the application.

Option B is incorrect because it targets the legacy Log4j 1.2 framework, which is deprecated and incompatible with Log4j2. Option C is insufficient because Log4j2 alone does not satisfy Kafka’s SLF4J dependency. Option D is incorrect because Kafka intentionally does not include a logging implementation transitively, allowing applications to choose their preferred logging framework.

Therefore, including the SLF4J implementation for Log4j2 is required to properly integrate Kafka client logs.

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