The winter transfer season is in full force and players like Mata receive a lot of attention in the news. More interesting for me are players like Andil Jali, the South African national team midfielder who is about to transfer from Orlando Pirates to Belgium side KV Oostende. I''m always curious how African players do in Europe. So forget about Mata and let's see how this guy will do and where he will end up the next years.

PSV Eindhoven have announced right-back Stanislav Manolev's contract has been terminated by mutual consent. Manolev who normally performs good when he is playing for the national team, appears to be a victim of circumstances. PSV lifted an option to renew his contract in the past but apparently not with the intention to field his but to sell him. A strategy that failed and left the player in a unfortunate position. This is a player that should be able to find an interested club on short notice.

Did you know there is a country where players salaries are being published? Yep and probably everyone knows that country. It's called the USA. The pdf with salaries can be downloaded here: http://www.theplayersagent.com/uploads/knowledgecenter/article/36/attachments/52d57764ee471.pdf

The most interesting new player in Holland is probably Bertrand Traore. The 18 year old attacking midfielder will come on loan from Chelsea. The word is that this youngster is one of football's most interesting young talents. Traore was born on in Burkino Faso and made his debut for the senior national team on 3 September 2011. One year earlier he joined Auxerre in France before moving to Chelsea earlier this season (2013-2014).

Coventry's transfer embargo have been lifted. http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/25730966

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25132538

http://www.footytube.com/news/guardian/is-fan-ownership-the-answer-to-struggling-football-clubs-L27397?ref=hp_trendian

UEFA Youth League kicks of this this season (2013-2014) http://www.uefa.com/uefa/footballfirst/footballdevelopment/eliteyouth/news/newsid=1905481.html . In the meantime the U19 NextGen competition will be skipped this season due to lack of funds, which argument is hard to believe in a world where a million euro transfers seems to be a bargain for the clubs involved in the NextGen series. Nevertheless I'm looking forward to the Youth League. I expect a fairer competition than is possible at the big bucks dominated level of their big brothers in the Champions League. Have fun!

http://www.sportlive.it/calciomercato/assifuah-udinese-trattativa-ghana-capocannoniere-mondiali-under-20.html

FC Barcelona and Ajax Amsterdam have reached agreement for the loan of Bojan Krkic to the Dutch club for the 2013/14 season. http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/first-team/detail/article/bojan-krkic-on-loan-to-ajax

The CAS DISMISSES THE APPEALS OF FC NANTES, ISMAEL BANGOURA AND AL NASR SPORTS CLUB; 'Pursuant to the FIFA decision, the player, jointly with FC Nantes, must pay a compensation of EUR 4,500.000 to Al Nasr Sports Club for unilateral termination of the contract without just cause during a protected period. Fur thermore, the player was suspended for a period of 4 months and FC Nantes was banned from registering any new players for the two next entire registration periods following the notification of the FIFA decision.' - http://www.tas-cas.org/d2wfiles/document/6792/5048/0/Media20Release2030912003.06.13.pdf

During the summer of 2012 (following a change of ownership in Lokomotiv Plovdiv) Venkov signed a contract with CSKA Sofia, but was initially unable to play in official matches for the team due to a transfer prohibition imposed on the "redmen".The ban was lifted in mid September 2012 and Venkov made his official debut on 22 September, in the 0–1 away loss against Ludogorets Razgrad He scored his first goal for CSKA from a header against Slavia Sofia in 0–2 away win.Venkov made his first appearance in The Eternal Derby on 20 October 2012, playing the full 90 minutes of the 1–0 win over Levski Sofia.