Ilia Iliev Gruev (Bulgarian: Илия Илиев Груев; born 6 May 2000) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for EFL Championship club Leeds United and the Bulgaria national team. He is the son of former Bulgarian international footballer Iliya Gruev.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ilia Iliev Gruev[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 6 May 2000 | ||
| Place of birth | Sofia, Bulgaria | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Leeds United | ||
| Number | 44 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2015 | Rot-Weiß Erfurt | ||
| 2015–2019 | Werder Bremen | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019–2020 | Werder Bremen II | 19 | (2) |
| 2021–2023 | Werder Bremen | 59 | (1) |
| 2023– | Leeds United | 28 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| Bulgaria U17 | 3 | (1) | |
| 2017 | Bulgaria U18 | 5 | (0) |
| 2017 | Bulgaria U19 | 2 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | Bulgaria U21 | 14 | (1) |
| 2022– | Bulgaria | 16 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:48, 27 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:01, 25 March 2024 (UTC) | |||
Club career edit
Werder Bremen edit
After playing youth football for Rot-Weiß Erfurt, Gruev moved to Werder Bremen in 2015.[2] Gruev progressed through Bremen's youth teams, eventually becoming captain of the club's under-19 side before signing his first professional contract with the club in April 2019.[2]
Gruev made his professional debut for Werder Bremen in the second round of the 2020–21 DFB-Pokal on 23 December 2020, coming on as a substitute in the 87th minute for Jean-Manuel Mbom against Hannover 96. The away match finished as a 3–0 win for Bremen.[3]
He scored the first goal of his senior career in a 4–1 win over Schalke 04 in April 2022, with a close-range header to put Bremen 1–0 up.[4] Werder Bremen were promoted to the Bundesliga at the end of the season, after finishing 2nd with 63 points.[5] Gruev extended his contract with Werder Bremen in summer 2022.[6]
The start of the 2022–23 season saw Gruev continue to play regularly for Bremen, appearing in 11 of their first 12 Bundesliga matches.[7]
Leeds United edit
On 31 August 2023, Gruev signed for EFL Championship club Leeds United on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[8] Gruev struggled to break into Leeds' first team in the first half of the 2023–24 season, being limited to just two league starts in 2023, both of which were in a box-to-box midfielder role rather than as a deep-lying midfielder, due to the form of Ethan Ampadu in that role.[9] On his third league start of the season, an injury to centre-back Pascal Struijk allowed Gruev to be given a start as a deep-lying midfielder in a 3–0 win against Cardiff City in January 2024 - Gruev was voted man of the match, having completed 68 out of 70 passes, giving him a 97% passing accuracy, a record for Leeds player (who recorded 50+ passes) since the statistic was first measured in the 2013–14 season.[9][10][11] On 6 February he again received the man of the match award, in Leeds' FA Cup win at Plymouth.[12]
International career edit
Gruev has appeared for the Bulgaria under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-21 national teams.[1][13][14][15][16][17] He received his first call-up for the senior national team on 5 September 2022, for the games of the UEFA Nations League games against Gibraltar and North Macedonia on 23 and 26 September 2022.[18] He made his debut in the match against Gibraltar on 23 September, won 5–1 by Bulgaria.[19]
Personal life edit
Gruev was born in Sofia, but also holds German citizenship.[1] He is the son of Iliya Gruev, former footballer and current manager.[20]
Honours edit
- 2nd place in the Bulgarian Footballer of the Year ranking - 2022, 2023[21]
Career statistics edit
Club edit
- As of match played 26 April 2024
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Werder Bremen II | 2019–20[22] | Regionalliga Nord | 15 | 2 | — | — | — | 15 | 2 | |||
| 2020–21[22] | Regionalliga Nord | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 19 | 2 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2 | ||||
| Werder Bremen | 2020–21[22] | Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22[22] | 2. Bundesliga | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 1 | |||
| 2022–23[22] | Bundesliga | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24[22] | Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 59 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 62 | 1 | |||
| Leeds United | 2023–24 | Championship | 28 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 31 | 0 | |
| Career total | 106 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 112 | 3 | ||
International edit
- As of 25 March 2024
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria | 2022 | 4 | 0 |
| 2023 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 16 | 0 |
References edit
- ^ a b c d Ilia Gruev at WorldFootball.net
- ^ a b "Werder Bremen bindet Ilia Gruev an sich". kicker (in German). 15 April 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ "Germany » DFB-Pokal 2020/2021 » 2. Round » Hannover 96 – Werder Bremen 0:3". WorldFootball.net. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ Knips, Björn (27 June 2022). "Gruev nach Vertragsverlängerung: "Das soll mein Startschuss sein"". weser-kurier-de (in German). Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ "2. Bundesliga 2021/2022 - 34. Round". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
- ^ Knips, Björn (27 June 2022). "Gruev nach Vertragsverlängerung: "Das soll mein Startschuss sein"". weser-kurier-de (in German). Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ Cottäus, Daniel (2 November 2022). "Ilia Gruevs großer Schritt in die Startelf bei Werder Bremen". weser-kurier-de (in German). Retrieved 31 March 2024.
- ^ "Ilia Gruev joins Leeds United from Werder Bremen". www.leedsunited.com. 31 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- ^ a b Smyth, Graham (16 January 2024). "Daniel Farke reveals Leeds United man's 'only problem' in area immune from January transfer panic". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ "Gruev Voted Boost Player of the Match against Cardiff". www.leedsunited.com. 15 January 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ Bürger, Malte (16 January 2024). "Werder Bremen: Ex-Profi Gruev begeistert die Leeds-Fans". weser-kurier-de. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ "Leeds United news: Ilia Gruev on 'deserving' chance to play big club". BBC Sport. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ "България U18 стартира с равенство участието си на турнира "Валентин Гранаткин"" [Bulgaria U18 starts its participation in the Valentin Granatkin tournament with a draw]. Bulgarian Football Union (in Bulgarian). 8 January 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ "България U18 e лидер в група "А" на турнира "Валентин Гранаткин"" [Bulgaria U18 is the leader in Group A of the Valentin Granatkin tournament]. Bulgarian Football Union (in Bulgarian). 10 January 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ "България U18 се класира за четвъртфиналите на турнира "Валентин Гранаткин"" [Bulgaria U18 qualifies for the quarter-finals of the Valentin Granatkin tournament]. Bulgarian Football Union (in Bulgarian). 12 January 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ "България U18 отстъпи на Русия U18 с 0:3 на четвъртфиналите от турнира "Валентин Гранаткин"" [Bulgaria U18 lost 0–3 to Russia U18 in the quarter-finals of the Valentin Granatkin tournament]. Bulgarian Football Union (in Bulgarian). 15 January 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ "България U18 загуби от Словакия U18 с 1:3 на турнира "Валентин Гранаткин"" [Bulgaria U18 lost 1–3 to Slovakia U18 at the Valentin Granatkin tournament]. Bulgarian Football Union (in Bulgarian). 18 January 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ "Кръстаич обяви играчите за Гибралтар и Северна Македония, Чочев и Михайлов са аут". Sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). 5 September 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ Зрелищен успех за младата България в дебюта на Младен Кърстаич
- ^ Ilia Gruev at FootballDatabase.eu
- ^ Kichukov, Simeon (18 March 2024). "Три зад Бербатов, една зад Стоичков: Кирил Десподов e Футболист №1 за четвърти път". dnevnik.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 31 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "Ilia Gruev » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
External links edit
- Ilia Gruev at DFB (also available in German)
- Ilia Gruev at kicker (in German)
- Ilia Gruev at Soccerway
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