If a bad January means a bad year then the two top Bulgarian football clubs have plenty of reasons to be worried about 2008. They began preparations for the second half of the season with many unresolved problems.

The fallen colossus, Levski, opened the new year with a total sell out. There were doubts over the future of young stars Valeri Domovchiiski and Nikolai Dimitrov and signs of even worse communications between the owner and the technical staff. With the championship title virtually lost, the Blues urgently sold half of the players who were instrumental in reaching the UEFA Cup quarterfinals in the 2005/06 season and the Champions League group stage a season later. Dimitar Telkiiski and Elin Topouzakov moved to Hapoel Tel Aviv. Cedric Bardon also left Sofia for Tel Aviv, to play for Bnei Yehuda. Hristo Yovov rejected Hapoel's offer and chose Cyprus' low-ranked Aris Limassol. Forwards Emil Angelov and Milan Koprivarov have joined domestic rivals Litex Lovech and Slavia Sofia, respectively.

All these deals were necessary but also came six months behind schedule. With Levski out of Europe by August 2007, coach Stanimir Stoilov needed to cut his squad while stars had lost motivation to play domestic tournaments as their total income was related to European success. Captain Topouzakov was left out for most games to open a place for the new Moroccan defensive duo. Angelov and Koprivarov also became surplus and they were sent to the junior team after refusing to sign new contracts. The team fell 13 points (with a game in hand) behind the leaders CSKA and Telkiiski, Bardon and Yovov were pointed at for being guilty for that. Now they are all out but no one can predict how well the three young Brazilian players, bought in December, will replace them.

More embarrassment came as two of the most promising talents could also be on the move in the near future. Left winger Dimitrov and forward Domovchiiski have had trials with Arsenal and Blackburn, respectively. Both U21 internationals, the players have already expressed their desire to leave for England. Arsenal scouts are keeping an eye on Dimitrov while Rovers boss Mark Hughes may offer a loan deal for Domovchiiski with a view to signing the player permanently at the end of the season.

The transfer saga with Domovchiiski showed signs of lost co-ordination between club boss Todor Batkov and technical director Nasko Sirakov. Batkov said that Domovchiiski was leaving for Blackburn to sign a contract but the player actually went for a two week trial. Sirakov then explained that Domovchiiski was not available for loan. Batkov's position was a bit different. "I don't know who to trust," Domovchiiski said.

Angelov and Koprivarov said they are thankful to Batkov for the transfers and didn't mention Sirakov and Stoilov. Nigerian forward Ekundayo Jayeoba also wants to leave and hopes that club boss will lower his price.

At the same time CSKA fell into the centre of a transfer scandal. Fifa agent Georgi Gradev accused club director Emil Kostadinov and head coach Stoicho Mladenov of improper methods. According to Gradev, both Kostadinov and Mladenov called the keeper Daniel Bekono and demand that the player change his agent as a main condition for his transfer. Gradev also revealed that agent Jorge Baidek had been given preferential rights by his former team-mate Stoicho Mladenov to offer players to CSKA. Baidek brought most of the foreign players into the team during the first and the present coaching reigns of Mladenov. He is currently being sued for 1.25 million euro in Portugal for business fraud and Mladenov's ex-assistant Renato Valvassori is also involved in the case.

This isn't the only problem at CSKA. Jose Garces, the international forward from Panama, did not come back to Bulgaria after the winter break. The club said he was ill but there were suspicions that it is all about money. Player were still waiting for last year's pay and were ready to boycott training sessions.