Name Kristiyan Malinov Playing position Role Footballer | Number 15 Height 1.70 m Weight 67 kg | |
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Full name Kristiyan Aleksandrov Malinov Date of birth (1994-03-30) 30 March 1994 (age 21) Current teams PFC Litex Lovech (#15 / Midfielder) | ||
Kristiyan Malinov (Bulgarian: Кристиян Малинов; born 30 March 1994 in Petrich) is a Bulgarian footballer who plays as a midfielder for CSKA Sofia.
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Litex Lovech
Malinov joined Litex Lovech's Academy as a fourteen-year-old after playing junior football for his home-town club Belasitsa Petrich and Pirin 2001. He progressed through the club's youth system and made his first appearance in a senior match day squad in November 2011, sitting on the bench for a A Group match against Lokomotiv Plovdiv.
Loan to Dobrudzha
In July 2013, Malinov was loaned to B Group team Dobrudzha Dobrich for the 2013–14 season. He made his debut in a 1–0 home win over Akademik Svishtov on 3 August 2013. Coached by former Litex's forward Svetoslav Todorov, Malinov made an immediate impact, appearing in all 26 league matches, scoring four goals. He was substituted only once during the entire league season in the second division.
Return to Litex
Malinov returned to Litex at the end of the season. He made his debut in the team's opening league match of the 2014–15 campaign against CSKA Sofia on 20 July 2014, playing the full 90 minutes in the centre of midfield. On 14 September, he scored his first goal in a 2–0 home win over Haskovo. On 29 November 2014, Malinov opened the scoring against Levski Sofia at Georgi Asparuhov Stadium. Later in the match Litex went 2–1 down, but Malinov created Litex's second goal, which was scored by Kiril Despodov for a 2–2 draw.
CSKA Sofia
In June 2016 he and big part of Litex squad moved to CSKA Sofia since the team took the license of Litex for Bulgarian First League.
Club
As of 26 October 2015International career
On 7 February 2015, Malinov made his first appearance for Bulgaria, in the 0–0 draw with Romania in a non-official friendly match, being replaced in the 63rd minute by Stefan Velev. He earned his first cap on 8 June 2015, in the 0–4 loss against Turkey in another exhibition game, after coming on as a substitute during the second half.