Valeri Bozhinov

Valeri Emilov Bozhinov (, ; born February 15, 1986) is a Bulgarian Association football striker who currently plays for Parma F.C of the Italian Serie A, on loan from Manchester City.

Valeri Bozhinov is the correct English language transliteration of Valeri Bozhinov birth name Валери Божинов; Valeri Bozhinov current club, Manchester City, use the name Bojinov, which is the French language and Portuguese language transliteration.

Biography

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

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

Club career

Lecce

A promising youngster, Bozhinov settled in Lecce and continued Valeri Bozhinov studies there while playing for U.S. Lecce youth teams. Valeri Bozhinov 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. Valeri Bozhinov first goal in the top division came on January 6 2004 in a home 1-2 defeat against Bologna FC and becomes the youngest non-national to score in Serie A.

Bozhinov showed shades of Valeri Bozhinov potential with Lecce under the guidance of coach Zdeněk Zeman, tallying 16 goals.

Fiorentina

Bozhinov was soon picked up by A.C.F. Fiorentina in January 2005, in a transfer worth approximately €13 million (pound (currency)9 million), Valeri Bozhinov was just 18 years old at the time.

During January 2006, Bozhinov was rumoured to be joining Italian giants Inter Milan on a 6 month loan deal, with Internazionale goalkeeper Francesco Toldo rumoured to be going in the opposite direction. However, Valeri Bozhinov remained in Florence and was re-introduced into Fiorentina's squad after a period of exclusion. Valeri Bozhinov built up a partnership with Luca Toni during the Serie A, with Toni scoring the most Serie A goals in one season, since.

In July 2006, Valeri Bozhinov moved to Italy powerhouse Juventus in a deal which included Adrian Mutu's transfer to Fiorentina. Bojinov said that Valeri Bozhinov would be happy to stay with Juventus and that they do have the option to purchase outright.

Manchester City

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

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

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

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

Bojinov made Valeri Bozhinov long-awaited return to English Premier League football by coming on as an 89th minute substitute against West Ham United on the 1 March 2009. Bojinov 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 Valeri Bozhinov first start since 2007 in the 1-0 home win over Sunderland FC on March 22 2009, but was substituted in the 65th minute which saw the return of injured Craig Bellamy. Valeri Bozhinov finally scored Valeri Bozhinov first league goal in the 2-1 loss against Tottenham Hotspur F.C. on 16 May 2009, 4 minutes after coming on as a substitute for compatriot Martin Petrov in the 61st minute.

Parma

It was announced on July 29, 2009 that Valeri Bojinov would be joining Italian side Parma, on a season long loan. It is thought to be believed that this is because of the great amount of competition in the striking roles at Eastlands this season. Valeri Bozhinov decided to wear number 16.