Valeri Bojinov

Valeri Bojinov

Personal information
Full name	Valeri Emilov Bozhinov
Date of birth	15 February 1986 (1986-02-15)
Place of birth	Gorna Oryahovitsa, PR Bulgaria
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Lecce
Number	10
Youth career
1999–2000	Pietà Hotspurs
2000–2002	Lecce
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2005	Lecce	68	(19)
2005–2007	Fiorentina	40	(10)
2006–2007	→ Juventus (loan)	21	(7)
2007–2010	Manchester City	11	(1)
2009–2010	→ Parma (loan)	30	(8)
2010–2011	Parma	33	(3)
2011–	Sporting CP	8	(2)
2012–	→ Lecce (loan)	0	(0)
National team‡
2004–	Bulgaria	35	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 December 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 October 2011

Valeri Emilov Bozhinov (Bulgarian: Валери Емилов Божинов, pronounced: [vɐˈlɛri boˈʒinof]; born 15 February 1986), commonly known as Valeri Bojinov, is a Bulgarian footballer who currently plays for Serie A side U.S. Lecce.

Biography

Born in the Bulgarian town of Gorna Oryahovitsa, Bozhinov moved to Malta at the age of 12 with his mother Pepa, a former Bulgarian national basketball team player and stepfather Sasho Angelov, who had played for the Bulgarian national football team during the 1990s.

Bozhinov was discovered at the age of 14 by Lecce sports director Pantaleo Corvino, while playing for Pietà Hotspurs, and signed for just 30,000,000 ITL (around €15,000).

He also dates a Bulgarian singer Alisia. They were named Stars Couple of Bulgaria in 2006. He became father of a baby son in September 2007. His son is also named Valeri. Now he is married for a bulgarian playmate Nikoleta Lozanova.

His preferred foot is left.

Club career

Lecce

A promising youngster, Bozhinov settled in Lecce and continued his studies there while playing for U.S. Lecce youth teams. He debuted in Italian Serie A on January 22, 2002, at the age of 15 years and 11 months for U.S. Lecce, becoming the youngest foreign player to make an appearance in the top level of Italian football. He scored his first goal in the top division on January 6, 2004 in a home 1–2 defeat against Bologna, becoming the youngest non-national to score in Serie A.

Fiorentina

Bozhinov was soon picked up by Fiorentina in January 2005, in a transfer worth approximately €13 million (£9 million), he was just 18 years old at the time.

Juventus

For the 2006-07 season, Fiorentina loaned Bojinov to Juventus, who had just been relegated to Serie B.

Manchester City

On 3 August 2007, it was reported that Bojinov completed his move to Manchester City, signing a four-year contract in an undisclosed fee deal, thought to be £5.75m.

Bozhinov was ruled out for five months after suffering a knee ligament injury against Manchester United in August 2007. He returned to full training on 22 January 2008, scoring five goals in a bounce game. On the 11 February 2008, Bozhinov played in a Manchester City reserve game, where he came on as a subtitute and scored a header from a cross by Emile Mpenza. Manchester City manager Sven-Göran Eriksson told Bozhinov that he would not be ready to play in the game against Everton on the 25 February 2008. He did not manage to make a come-back to the first team squad in the 2007/08 season, but he did make some appearances for the Reserve squad and was included in City's tour of Asia.

He scored his first goal for the club over a year after joining in a pre-season friendly against Stockport County. He also scored the winning goal in a friendly against AC Milan on 9 August 2008. On the 17 August 2008, Bozhinov was ruled out for six months after suffering an Achilles injury as he was running on to the pitch to warm up against Aston Villa. He has been labelled 'unlucky' as this is his second long term injury^{[citation needed]}. By mid-January 2009 the club announced that Bozhinov was nearing full training^{[citation needed]}.

In mid-February 2009, Manchester City manager Mark Hughes declared that Bozhinov was going to play a practice match "Behind closed doors" as he was nearing his return to first team football. Bozhinov played 65 minutes for the reserves on 17 February 2009. He even scored a penalty against rivals Manchester United in a reserve game while regaining match fitness.

Bozhinov made his long-awaited return to Premier League football by coming on as an 89th minute substitute against West Ham on 1 March 2009. Bozhinov then appeared again as a late substitute for Manchester City by coming on as an 83rd minute substitute in place of Elano against Aston Villa. Valeri made his first start since 2007 in the 1–0 home win over Sunderland on March 22, 2009, but was substituted in the 65th minute which saw the return of injured Craig Bellamy. He finally scored his first league goal in the 2–1 loss against Tottenham on 16 May 2009, four minutes after coming on as a substitute for compatriot Martin Petrov in the 61st minute.

Parma

It was announced on July 29, 2009 that Bozhinov would be joining Italian side Parma, on a season long loan. This was in part due to the amount of competition for a striking role at Eastlands this season. He decided to wear number 86. On September 23, 2009 he scored his first official goal for Parma against Lazio. He also won a penalty for his team. The match ended in a 1–2 away win for Parma.

On July 4, 2010 it was confirmed that Parma have completed the permanent signing of Bozhinov, who is believed to have signed a 5 year deal, beating off late competition from Sevilla, Valencia, Genoa and Zenit. However, Bojinov endured a difficult season, largely restricted to the bench thanks to a combination of his own sub-par performances; the regular use of just one forward in the team; and regular goals coming from Hernan Crespo and Amauri in the early and late parts of the season, respectively.

Sporting

On July 6, 2011, Sporting signed Bojinov in a 5 year contract, paying €2.6million for 80% of his registration rights, which could rise to €3.5 million depending on his performance at the Portuguese side. while Jaime Valdés was loaned to Parma in exchange.

On January 20, 2012, Sporting CP declared Bojinov persona non grata, forbidding the player from entering the stadium or the training academy, due to his actions in the league Cup match game against Moreirense F.C. that was played the previous day. At 92 minutes Sporting was conceded a decisive penalty kick that would, if scored, give the team the victory. The regular penalty taker for Sporting, Matias Fernandez, prepared to take the shot, but Bojinov took the ball from him, pushing him away and insisting that he would do it, even though the player had never taken a penalty for Sporting, and hadn't scored a penalty during an official game since 2006. He failed to score, infuriating the supporters and Sporting's managers, which have subsequently banned the player on the basis that the player disrespected the decision of the coach and therefore the rules of the club.

International career

Bojinov made his debut for the national side during Euro 2004 – on 22 June 2004, he came on as a substitute in the 1–2 loss against Italy. He earned his second cap on 19 August 2004 in the 1–1 away draw against Ireland in a friendly match, during which he also scored his first international goal.

Honours

Juventus

• Serie B: 2006–07

Manchester City

• Vodacom Challenge Runner-up: 2009

External links

• Valeri Bojinov career stats at Soccerbase
• Juventus.com – Profile and Stats
• FootballDatabase.com – Profile and Stats
• Goal.com profile