Wellington Phoenix have signed 25-year-old attacking midfielder Bozhidar Kraev on a two-year contract.
The Bulgaria international, who has 24 senior caps to his name for his country – accrued since his debut as a 19-year-old in 2017, joins from Danish club FC Midtjylland where he’s been signed for the past five seasons.
Kraev, who last featured for Bulgaria in a friendly against World Cup holders France in 2021, will arrive at the club on Wednesday, July 27.
Phoenix head coach Ufuk Talay is eager to see what Kraev can bring to a creative role in his side’s attack held in recent seasons by the likes of Ulises Dávila, Reno Piscopo and Gael Sandoval.
Talay says the Bulgarian offers a different type of profile to the attacking midfielders who came before him in the Phoenix system.
“He’s young which is a positive,” Talay said. “He’s 25 which I think is a good age.
“He’s also energetic and when I spoke to him on the phone about making the move he was excited to come to New Zealand and play in the A-League.”
“(He’s) a little bit different to the 10s we’ve previously signed. He’s a lot bigger.
“At 186cm tall he’s a good size. He’s strong on the ball and deceptively quick for his height. But he’s still technically good on the ball and he can score goals.”
Talay added: “He’s a natural 10 and with the attributes he has I think he’ll fit in pretty well to the way we set up.”
Over the course of his Midtjylland – where he played alongside Socceroo and former Adelaide United star Awer Mabil – stay, Kraev enjoyed loan moves to Portuguese sides Gil Vicente and Famalicao. It was at the former club when Kraev scored nine goals in the 2019-20 Primera League campaign.
The Bulgarian says the growing popularity of the Isuzu UTE A-League helped lure him to New Zealand for the next two seasons.
“The offer from the Phoenix interested me,” Kraev said. “I had a couple of other options but I had a good feeling about this.
“The A-League is growing and getting popular and I wanted to be a part of it.”
“I’m a creative player and my role is to score and assist goals.
“I want to play the maximum amount of games and help the Phoenix to the highest possible position in the league.”
