Valeri Bojinov

He then appeared again as a late substitute for Manchester City by entering as an 83rd-minute substitute for Elano against Aston Villa.

Valeri Emilov Bojinov (Валери Емилов Божинов, ; born 15 February 1986) is a Bulgarian professional footballer and coach who plays as a striker for Kostenets.

Throughout his career, Bojinov has played for eighteen different clubs during his various spells in Italy, as well as in England, Portugal, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, China and Switzerland.

At international level, he also played for the Bulgaria national team.

His surname is sometimes transliterated as Bozhinov.

Born in Gorna Oryahovitsa, Bulgaria, Bojinov moved to Malta at the age of 12 with his mother Pepa, a former Bulgaria women's national football 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 Lecce sports director Pantaleo Corvino while playing for Pietà Hotspurs, and signed for just 30,000,000 ITL (around €15,000).

Bojinov settled in the city of Lecce and continued his studies there while playing for Lecce's youth teams.

He debuted in the Italian Serie A on 27 January 2002 at the age of 15 years and 11 months, becoming the youngest foreign player to make an appearance at the top level of Italian football.

He scored his first goal in the top division on 6 January 2004 in a 2–1 home defeat against Bologna, becoming the youngest non-national to score in Serie A.

During the 2004–05 season, Bojinov has played a total of nine matches, scoring two goals.

Bojinov was acquired by Fiorentina in January 2005.

He made his club debut against Palermo, playing the full match on 2 February 2005.

On 26 February 2005, he scored his first goal for Fiorentina, against Udinese.

On 8 May 2005, Bojinov scored a winning goal in 79th minute against Chievo at Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi in 2–1 away win.

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

On 3 August 2007, it was reported that Bojinov had completed his move to English Premier League club Manchester City, signing a four-year contract in an undisclosed fee deal.

On 11 August 2007, he made his debut for the club in a 2–0 away win against West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground, entering as a substitute for Rolando Bianchi in the 60th minute in league play.

Bojinov was ruled out of action for five months after he suffered a knee ligament injury against Manchester United in August 2007.

He did not manage to make a comeback 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.

Bojinov scored his first goal for the club in over a year in a pre-season friendly against Stockport County.

He returned to full training on 22 January 2008, scoring five goals in a bounce game.

On 11 February 2008, Bojinov played in a Manchester City reserve game, where he came on as a substitute and scored a header from a cross by Émile Mpenza.

Manchester City manager Sven-Göran Eriksson told Bojinov that he would not be ready to play in the game against Everton on 25 February 2008.

He also scored the winning goal in a friendly against Milan on 9 August 2008.

On 17 August 2008, Bojinov 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.

In mid-February 2009, Manchester City manager Mark Hughes declared that Bojinov was going to play a practice match "behind closed doors", as he was nearing his return to first-team football.

He 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.

Bojinov made his return to Premier League football by coming on as an 89th-minute substitute against West Ham on 1 March 2009.

Bojinov made his first start since 2007 in a 1–0 home win over Sunderland on 22 March 2009, but was substituted in the 65th minute for the return of injured Craig Bellamy.

He scored his first league goal in the 2–1 loss against Tottenham Hotspur on 16 May 2009, four minutes after coming on as a substitute for compatriot Martin Petrov in the 61st minute away at White Hart Lane.

It was announced on 29 July 2009 that Bojinov would be joining Italian side Parma on a season-long loan deal.

He decided to wear number 86.

On 23 September 2009 he scored his first official goal for Parma against Lazio at Stadio Olimpico.

He also won a penalty for his team; the match ended in a 2–1 away win.

During the 2009–10 season, Bojinov played 31 matches in all competitions, scoring eight goals.

On 24 March 2010, Bojinov scored against Milan in 90th minute in 1–0 home win.

On 4 July 2010, it was confirmed that Parma had completed the permanent signing of Bojinov.

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 Hernán Crespo and Amauri in the early and late parts of the season, respectively.