The big mercenary check: Stergiou celebrates its premiere, hope for Omlin

Noah Loosli (Bochum): Not in the squad for the 1-1 draw against Augsburg.

Cédric Zesiger (Wolfsburg): The new year does not bring him any luck yet: in the 2-2 draw against Hoffenheim he was on the bench for the entire match for the fourth time in a row.

Gregor Kobel (Dortmund): A persistent ear infection meant that Nati’s replacement goalkeeper could not be used in the 0-0 draw against Heidenheim.

Nico Elvedi (Gladbach): Can now call himself a goalscorer against Bayern Munich, but because his team ultimately lost 3-1, Nati’s regular player cannot buy anything from that.

Jonas Omlin (Gladbach): Returning to goalkeeper training on the field last week means: Omlin sees light at the end of the long (injury) tunnel. But he has to wait until March for his comeback.

Kevin Mbabu (Augsburg): Confirmed his EM ambitions last week in a Blick interview. He did a lot of match exercises, even against Bochum (1:1) he was on the field from kick-off until the final whistle.

Ruben Vargas (Augsburg): Had to play in the ten-man position in the 1-1 draw against Bochum – he quit after 81 minutes. And now there is clarity about the question of the future: a move to Florence did not happen and Vargas will remain in Augsburg at least until the summer.

Silvan Widmer (Mainz): Was on the field for the entire match in the 0-1 win against Bremen. After another bankruptcy, the relegation battle is slowly turning gloomy for Widmers Mainz.

Edimilson Fernandes (Mainz): Starts on the bench after his ankle injury against Bremen, before making a brief comeback after 84 minutes.

Granit Xhaka (Leverkusen): Another of Leverkusen’s best in the 2-0 win in Darmstadt. He also remains without a yellow card and that means: Leader Bayer can count on his most important player in the cracker against Bayern next weekend.

Leonidas Stergiou (Stuttgart): Finally: In the 3-1 victory against Freiburg, the ex-St. Galler was in the starting line-up for the first time in a Bundesliga match. Shows a performance from the right in the three-man defense that is highly praised by pundits, teammates and fans.

Manuel Akanji (Man City): The game against Brentford will not take place until Monday evening. It is quite possible that Akanji will make his comeback after a break of several weeks due to an injury.

Zeki Amdouni (Burnley): Had to go off after 64 minutes against Fulham (2-2) for new signing Fofana – and above all he scored twice for Burnley. Not a good omen for Amdouni’s future with the newly promoted team?

Fabian Schär (Newcastle): He was first voted Player of the Month for January by the fans – and then had a wild game in the 4-4 draw against Luton, in which Schär and his defensive colleagues did not always make good falls.

Ricardo Rodriguez (Turin): Had to leave early in the 0-0 draw against Salernitana with adductor problems. Nothing is yet known about the duration of the outage.

Noah Okafor (Milan): Had to play against Frosinone after an hour and helped turn a 1-1 draw into a 3-2 win for the Milan side.

Michel Aebischer (Bologna): Received a yellow card after 55 minutes in the 4-2 win against Sassuolo and was substituted shortly afterwards.

Remo Freuler (Bologna): Played in central midfield in the 4-2 win against Sassuolo.

Dan Ndoye (Bologna): Has been out since the beginning of the year and at least until mid-February due to a thigh injury.

Yann Sommer (Inter): The Milanese win the prestigious match against Juventus 1-0. Nati goalkeeper Sommer is not challenged and does not have to make any parade.

Eray Comert (Nantes): Missed another few weeks due to a sprained ankle.

Yvon Mvogo (Lorient): Celebrate their first win since mid-October with a 2-1 win in Metz – that gives hope in the relegation battle.

Becir Omeragic (Montpellier): Despite the 1:2 against Rennes, he underlines his permanent place in the center of the defense.

Silvan Hefti (Montpellier): Comes in after more than an hour against Rennes, but can no longer prevent the 1:2.

Vincent Sierro (Toulouse): The captain put in a strong performance in defensive midfield during the 3-2 win in Reims.

Breel Embolo (Monaco): Continues to work on the comeback after the ACL tear. If all goes according to plan, he will return to team training in March.

Philipp Köhn (Monaco): As usual, he was in the Monegasque goal in the 1-1 draw against Le Havre.

Denis Zakaria (Monaco): Missed last week against Le Havre due to a yellow-red card.

Fabian Rieder (Rennes): Will be out for several weeks after breaking his foot.

Jordan Lotomba (Nice): Subbed after an hour after a solid performance against Brest (0-0).

Ulisses Garcia (Marseille): Entered the field ten minutes before the end of the 0-1 win against Lyon.

Djibril Sov (Seville): The match against Vallecano will not take place until Monday evening.

Maxime Dominguez (Gil Vicente): 0:3 against Benfica – Dominguez and his colleagues show their limits against the top team.

Francesco Ruberto (Vizela): He was also only a substitute in the 0-1 win against Guimaraes.

Miro Muheim (Hamburg): Scores in the 2-1 win against Hertha Berlin and has the best score of all HSV players. Muheim hopes to jump on the European Championship bandwagon as a left back.

Jasper van der Werff (Rostock): The ex-Basel player actively participated in the 2-1 defeat against Hannover on the field.

Jan Elvedi (Kaiserslautern): After the 4:1 against Schalke, the Red Devils suffered another setback with the 1:2 in Elversberg – with Elvedi in the center of the defense.

Filip Stojilkovic (Kaiserslautern): Came onto the field after an hour, but remained pale during the 1-2 defeat in Elversberg.

Saulo Decarli (Braunschweig): Not in the selection for the 0-1 win against Schalke.

Carlo Brunner (Schalke): Served a yellow card suspension in the 1-0 win against Braunschweig.

Martin Angha (Wehen-Wiesbaden): Currently out with a calf injury.

Christian Fassnacht (Norwich): Finished the job after just over an hour in the 2-1 win against Coventry.

Michael Frey (QPR): Could play 13 minutes against Blackburn after moving to the Island. His first appearance this season – and in the end there was a 2-1 away win.

Simon Sohm (Parma): Was on the bench for the 2-1 win against Venezia.

Pajtim Kasami (Sampdoria): Played through in the 2-2 draw against Modena.

Natan Girma (Reggiana): Plays through in the 1-1 draw against Ferasilpano.

Samuel Ballet (Como): Entered alongside ex-YB star Jean-Pierre Nsame for the final 20 minutes of the 1-0 win at Ternana.

Stefan Knezevic (Charleroi): Dropped out due to a thigh injury.

Cameron Puertas (Saint-Gilles): Prepares the winning goal in the 1-0 win against Genk.

Andi Zeqiri (Genk): Only a brief appearance of four minutes in the 0-1 defeat against Sint-Gillis.

Franck Surdez (Ghent): Fifteen minutes of short appearance in the 1:2 against Feyenoord Rotterdam.

Noam Baumann (OFI Crete): Loses 1:2 to Kifisias as regular player.

Steven Zuber (AEK Athens): Captain and played 72 minutes in the 4-2 win against Tripoli.

Benjamin Siegrist (Celtic): As usual, a guest in the stands for the 1-1 draw against Aberdeen.

Gregory Wüthrich (Sturm Graz): Game-free weekend.

Bryan Okoh (RB Salzburg): Game-free weekend.

Elmedin Fazlic (Domzale): The Slovenian competition is on hold until mid-February.

Leo Lacroix (Craiova): Plays through in the 2-1 win against Dinamo Bucharest.

Nicolas Bürgy (Viborg): The competition is on hold until mid-February.

Petar Pusić (NK Osijek): Played in attacking midfield in the 1-1 draw against Hajduk Split.

Josip Drmic (Dinamo Zagreb): Not in the selection for the 2-0 win against Gorica.

Zoran Josipovic (NK Istra): Not in the selection for the 3-0 defeat against Rijeka.

David Mistrafovic (Varazdin): Spent 90 minutes on the bench in the 0-0 draw against Lokomotiva.

Gokhan Inler (Besiktas Istanbul): Still waiting for the first outing this season.

Marco Burch (Legia Warsaw): The Polish competition is on hold until mid-February.

Leo Seydoux (Dordrecht): Benchwarmer in the 1-0 win against Dordrecht.

Kwadwo Duah (Ludogorets Razgrad): The Bulgarian competition is on hold until mid-February.

Haris Seferovic (Al Wasl): The competition is on hold until mid-February due to the Asian Cup.

Xherdan Shaqiri (Chicago Fire): The new MLS season starts on February 21.

Maren Haile-Selassie (Chicago Fire): The season starts on February 21.

Roman Bürki (St. Louis): The season starts on February 21.

Allan Arigoni (Chicago Fire): The season starts on February 21.