Valeri Bojinov

At 38 years old, Valeri Bojinov has this physical status:

Valeri Emilov Bojinov (born on February 15, 1986) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a forward. During his career, Bojinov has played for fifteen clubs in Italy, as well as England, Portugal, Bulgaria, Serbia, China, and Switzerland.

He has also played for the Bulgarian national team on international level.

Bozhinov is sometimes mistranslated as Bozhinov.

Personal life

Bojinov dated Bulgarian singer Alisia. He became the father of a baby boy on September 12, 2007. Valeri's son is also named Valeri. He was married to Bulgarian Playmate Nikoleta Lozanova from 2011 to 2015.

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Club career

While playing for Lecce's youth teams, Bojinov stayed in Lecce and continued his studies there. He debuted in the Italian Serie A on January 27, 2002, becoming the youngest foreign player to play at the top of Italian football. In a 2–1 home loss to Bologna on January 6, he scored his first goal in the top division, becoming the youngest non-national to score in Serie A.

In January 2005, Fiorentina acquired Bojinov. On February 2, 2005, he made his club debut against Palermo and watched the full match. He scored his first goal for Fiorentina against Udinese on February 26, 2005. Bojinov scored in 79th minute against Chievo at Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, winning in 2–1 away victory on 8 May 2005. Bojinov has appeared in a total of nine matches during the 2004–2005 season, scoring two goals.

Fiorentina loaned Bojinov to Juventus, who had just been promoted to Serie B for the 2006–07 season.

Bojinov had completed his transfer to Manchester City, England, on August 3, 2007, signing a four-year deal in an undisclosed fee agreement. He made his debut for the club against West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground on August 11th and came as a replacement for Rolando Bianchi in the 60th minute in league play.

After suffering a knee ligament injury against Manchester United in August 2007, Bojinov was ruled out of action for five months. In a bounce game, he returned to full training on January 22, 2008, scoring five goals. Bojinov played in a Manchester City reserve game on Sunday, where he appeared as a replacement and scored a header by Émile Mpenza from a cross. Sven-Göran Eriksson, the city's manager, told Bojinov that he would not be able to participate in the game against Everton on February 25, 2008. He didn't make it 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.

In a pre-season friendly against Stockport County, Bojinov scored his first goal for the club in over a year. On August 9, 2008, he scored the winning goal in a friendly against Milan. Bojinov was suspended for six months after suffering an Achilles injury while running on to the pitch to warm up against Aston Villa on August 17.

As Bojinov was approaching his return to first-team football in mid-February 2009, Manchester City manager Mark Hughes announced that he would play a "behind closed doors" in mid-February 2009. On February 17, 2009, he played 65 minutes for the reserves. Even in a reserve game when recovering match fitness, he scored a penalty against Manchester United rivals Manchester United.

On March 1, 2009, Bojinov made his return to Premier League football by going on as an 89th-minute replacement against West Ham. He then appeared as a late replacement for Manchester City by entering as an 83rd-minute replacement for Elano against Aston Villa. In a 1–0 home win over Sunderland on March 22, 2009, Bojinov got off to a good start since 2007, but he was forced to leave in the 65th minute due to injured Craig Bellamy's return. He scored his first league goal against Tottenham Hotspur on May 16, 2009, four minutes after coming on as a replacement for compatriot Martin Petrov in the 61st minute away at White Hart Lane.

Bojinov will be joining Italian side Parma on a season-long loan contract, according to a statement on July 29th. He decided to wear number 86. He scored his first official goal for Parma against Lazio at Stadio Olimpico on September 23, 2009. He also earned a penalty for his team, so the match was a 2–1 away victory. In a 1–0 home win over Milan on March 24, 2010, Bojinov scored in 90th minute against Milan. Bojinov played 31 games in all competitions over the 2009-10 season, scoring eight goals.

Parma had completed the permanent transfer of Bojinov on July 4, 2010. However, Bojinov had a difficult season, with mainly restricted to the bench as a result of a mixture of his own sub-par results; the regular use of just one forward in the team; and regular goals from Hernán Crespo and Amauri in the early and late seasons.

Sporting CP, a Portuguese side, signed Bojinov on a five-year deal, paying €2.6 million for 80% of his registration rights, which may have increased to €3.5 million depending on his results. Jaime Valdés, a Chilean midfielder, moved to Parma on loan as part of the trade after being referred to Sporting.

He was primarily used by coach Domingos Paciência as a substitute during his time with the Lisbon outfit. In a UEFA Europa League play-off tie against Danish side Nordsjlland on August 25, he made his first-team debut against Denmark's Nordsj. On October 24, he would score for Sporting for the first time against Gil Vicente. In a gameweek eight Primeira Liga fixture, Bojinov helped his team demolish the opposition 6–1.

Sporting declared Bojinov persona non grata on January 20, 2012, forbiding the player from entering the stadium or the training academy as a result of his appearance in a Taça da Liga match against Moreirense played the previous day. Sporting was postponed for 92 minutes by Sporting's decisive penalty kick, which would have won the team the victory if scored. Matas Fernández, the regular penalty taker for Sporting, was poised to take the shot, but Bojinov took the ball from him, threatening that he would take the shot, despite the fact that he never made a penalty in a official game since 2006. He failed to score, angering the supporters and Sporting's executives, who then banned Bojinov on the grounds that he disrespected the coach's decision and therefore the club's rules. He then joined Lecce on a loan from Lecce.

Bojinov became a full member of Verona on August 31, 2012, the first time the player had been announced on a year-long loan agreement. However, he signed with second-division company Vicenza on a separate six-month loan agreement on January 17, 2013. In his second game for Vicenza against Juve Stabia on February 2nd, he scored his first goal. Bojinov would score again on February 26, a brace against Grosseto in a 2–1 away victory.

The Bojinov and Sporting deal was terminated on September 6, 2013.

It was announced on the last day of January 2014 that Bojinov had signed with Bulgarian side Levski Sofia, the first time in his career, he would play for a team in his home country. In a friendly match against Czech side Teplice on Sunday, he scored a goal on his unofficial debut on February 7th in a 4–2 loss. In a Bulgarian Cup match, Bojinov scored his first goal in a official match on March 12, beating Botev Plovdiv 3–1 over Bojinov. In a 3–2 home loss to champions Ludogorets Razgrad on May 11, 2014, Bojinov scored two goals.

In September 2014, Bojinov resigned from Levski and joined Ternana's Italian Serie B side as a free agent on a one-year deal. He made his Bologna debut on September 23rd, playing the entire 90 minutes. Bojinov scored his first goal for Ternana against Virtue Entella at the Stadio Comunale on November 4th with a 49th-minute equalizer in a 2–1 loss. Bojinov scored a brace in a 2–1 home victory over Crotone on January 17, 2015; his second goal was a spectacular 40-meter foul.

Bojinov signed a two-year deal with Serbian side Partizan on June 14, 2015. Ivan Ivanov, a former Partizan player and Bulgarian international, recommended Partizan to Bojinov. Bojinov said that it was his lucky number and decided to wear it on the jersey. In a second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League against Dila Gori on July 14, 2015, he made his official debut for the club against Dila Gori. He spent 77 minutes on the field without scoring in the match. Bojinov scored his first goal for Partizan against Metalac on July 17, 2015. In a 4–0 home win, he scored one goal and had two assists. In a 6–0 home victory, Bojinov scored twice against Jagodina on July 25, 2015.

In his first appearance in the UEFA Europa League group stage, Bojinov was in the starting XI against Athletic Bilbao on October 22, 2015. In the 59th minute, Bojinov came to the game as a replacement for Ivan aponji and scored a brace against Rad on December 13th. Partizan declined separate €2 million bids from both Sporting de Gijón and Rayo Vallecano for Bojinov in the winter of 2016. In January 2016, he told every teammate who will help with one of his objectives that he would give them €500.

By mutual consent, he ended his deal with Partizan on February 17, 2017.

He signed with Chinese second level team Meizhou Hakka in March 2017.

Bojinov signed a two-year contract with Swiss side Lausanne in July 2017, but he resigned in October after the club terminated his deal.

In February 2018, Bojinov signed for Rijeka, Croatia, as a free agent. He didn't get a contract extension until June 2018, but it wasn't until then that he was signed until he was signed. In the semi-finals of the 2017-18 Croatian Football Cup against Dinamo Zagreb on April 4, 2018, he made his official debut for the club against Dinamo Zagreb, beginning as a replacement in the 78th minute. Bojinov made a contribution to Rijeka's fifth goal on his first appearance in his league debut against Inter Zaprei on May 8, 2018, when he came on as a replacement in the 76th minute. Bojinov's deal was extended for another year on June 5, 2018. HNK Rijeka and Bojinov mutually agreed to end his player relationship on August 20th.

During the spring of 2019, Bojinov scored the team's winning playoff goal against Etar, which helped the team qualify for the UEFA Europa League. His time with the "blue guys" was sandwiched between two spells with Botev Vratsa - one in the second half of 2018, when he established himself as a key player for the team, and another in the fall of 2019.

Bojinov joined Pescara's Serie B team in February 2020. He was barred from making his debut (while sitting on the substitutes' bench against Crotone) by the match referee for insulting words on February 23, 2020. He appeared in a official match on March 4th for the first time after starting as a second half replacement in the 2–0 away loss to Spezia.

Bojinov returned to Levski Sofia for the third time in his career in September 2020. Despite the fact that he did not play regularly, he became a fan favorite thanks to his dedication to the team and his leadership skills. In his first start since returning from Partizan Cherven Bryag in the Round of 32 of the Bulgarian Cup on October 21, 2020, he scored his first goal of the season. He scored the winning goal against Cherno More on May 23, 2021. His deal with the team was extended for one more season on July 16, 2021.

Managerial career

Although still playing for the team, Bojinov was named as the new assistant manager to Slavko Mati at Septemvri Sofia on June 2522.

International career

In the 1–2 loss to Italy, Bojinov made his UEFA Euro 2004 debut for Bulgaria; on June 22, 2004, he came as a replacement. In a friendly match in which he also scored his first international goal, he earned his second cap on August 19th in a 1-1 away draw against the Republic of Ireland.

In a friendly match against Mexico in the United States at NRG Stadium on November 17, 2005, Bojinov scored a goal against Mexico, resulting in a 3–0 victory. In a competitive match against Slovenia on September 6, Bojinov scored his first international goal against Slovenia in 3–0 home victory in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying. It was also Bulgaria's first goal in Euro 2008 qualifying.

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