Ilia Gruev
Personal information
Full name Ilia Iliev Gruev[1]
Date of birth (2000-05-06) 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
0000–2015 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 12 (0)
International career‡
Bulgaria U17 3 (1)
2017 Bulgaria U18 5 (0)
2017 Bulgaria U19 2 (0)
2021–2022 Bulgaria U21 12 (1)
2022– Bulgaria 14 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 January 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17:24, 19 November 2023 (UTC)

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.

Club career

Werder Bremen

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.[2]

Leeds United

On 31 August 2023, Gruev signed for EFL Championship club Leeds United on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[3] He was voted a man of the match in the league match win against Cardiff City, completing 68 out of 70 passes, an impressive 97% accuracy that was a record for Leeds player.[4]

International career

Gruev has appeared for the Bulgaria under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-21 national teams.[1][5][6][7][8][9] 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.[10] He made his debut in the match against Gibraltar on 23 September, won 5–1 by Bulgaria.[11]

Personal life

Gruev was born in Sofia, but also holds German citizenship.[1] He is the son of Iliya Gruev, former footballer and current manager.[12]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 7 January 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Werder Bremen II 2019–20[13] Regionalliga Nord 152–152
2020–21[13] Regionalliga Nord 40—40
Total 192—192
Werder Bremen 2020–21[13] Bundesliga 102030
2021–22[13] 2. Bundesliga 26100261
2022–23[13] Bundesliga 31010320
2023–24[13] Bundesliga 100010
Total 59130621
Leeds United 2023–24 Championship 11010120
Career total 89340933
  1. ↑ Includes DFB-Pokal

International

As of 19 November 2023
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Bulgaria 202240
2023100
Total140

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Ilia Gruev at WorldFootball.net
  2. ↑ "Germany » DFB-Pokal 2020/2021 » 2. Round » Hannover 96 – Werder Bremen 0:3". WorldFootball.net. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  3. ↑ "Ilia Gruev joins Leeds United from Werder Bremen". www.leedsunited.com. 31 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  4. ↑ Gruev Voted Boost Player of the Match against Cardiff
  5. ↑ "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.
  6. ↑ "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.
  7. ↑ "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.
  8. ↑ "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.
  9. ↑ "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.
  10. ↑ Кръстаич обяви играчите за Гибралтар и Северна Македония, Чочев и Михайлов са аут
  11. ↑ Зрелищен успех за младата България в дебюта на Младен Кърстаич
  12. ↑ Ilia Gruev at FootballDatabase.eu
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Ilia Gruev » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 23 December 2020.


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