Filip Yavorov Krastev (; born 15 October 2001) is a Bulgarian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Dutch club

PEC Zwolle Prins Hendrik Ende Desespereert Nimmer Combinatie Zwolle, commonly known as PEC Zwolle, is a Dutch professional football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football. They have played in the Ered ...

, on loan from Belgian side

Lommel Lommel () is a municipality and city in the Belgian province of Limburg. Lying in the Kempen, it has about 34,000 inhabitants and is part of the arrondissement of Maaseik. Besides the residential town, Lommel also has a number of nature reserv ...

, and the Bulgaria national team.

Club career

Slavia Sofia

Krastev joined

Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia 1913 () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home ground is the Stadion Aleksandar Sh ...

's youth academy in 2010. He made his first team debut at the age of 16 years and 210 days in a 3–0 home loss against

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv (), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Stadion Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park and ha ...

on 13 May 2018, coming on as a substitute for Galin Ivanov. Krastev scored his first senior goal on 24 February 2020, netting the second for Slavia during their 3–1 victory against

Dunav Ruse FC Dunav (, officially named ''"Дунав от Русе"'') is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Ruse, which currently competes in the Second League, the second tier of the Bulgarian football league system. Part of a larger spor ...

. A week later, he provided an assist to Ivaylo Dimitrov in a 2–1 away win over

Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...

Lommel

On 18 June 2020, Slavia announced that Krastev would sign for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in the following week; however, on 28 June 2020, Krastev signed with

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League, previously known as 1B Pro League is the second-highest division in the Football in Belgium, Belgian football Belgian football league system, league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was created by the ...

team

, part of the

City Football Group City Football Group Limited (CFG) is a British-based holding company that administers association football clubs. The group is owned by three organisations, of which 81% is majority-owned by Abu Dhabi United Group, 18% by the American firm Silve ...

, which immediately loaned him back to Slavia until the end of 2020.

Loans

On 28 January 2021, Krastev joined another City Football Group side,

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

, on an 18-month loan deal. On 27 August 2021, his loan deal with Troyes was cut short to allow him to join

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

side Cambuur on a season-long loan deal. On 27 January 2022, Krastev returned to Bulgaria to sign for

on a six-month loan. On 28 June 2022, his loan was extended for a further year. On 26 July 2023, Krastev joined

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. It was establi ...

on loan until 30 June 2024, with a permanent transfer option. He made his debut on 8 August in

Leagues Cup The Leagues Cup is an annual soccer competition between clubs from Major League Soccer (MLS), the main soccer league in the United States, and Liga MX, the main soccer league in Mexico. It is hosted in Canada and the United States. It began in ...

match against

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

, coming as a substitute in the 76th minute and scoring his debut goal in the 84th minute for the 4–0 win. In January 2024, his loan deal with LAFC was terminated early. He returned to Europe to sign a loan deal with

on 26 January. He re-signed on loan with PEC Zwolle in July 2024.

International career

In August 2020, he received his first call up to the senior side for the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

in September, earning his first cap on 6 September, in a 1–0 away loss against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

after coming on as a late second-half substitute for

Todor Nedelev Todor Lyubchev Nedelev (; born 7 February 1993) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Ludogorets Razgrad. Early life Nedelev was born on 7 February 1993, and raised in the village of Belozem, ...

. On 5 September 2024, he had a good first half performance in the 0:0 away draw with

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

in a

match, but was sent off after the break due to receiving a second yellow card.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals :''Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first.''

Honours

Levski Sofia *

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup () is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament's format is ''single-elimination'', with all matche ...

: 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krastev, Filip Living people 2001 births Bulgarian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Bulgaria men's international footballers Bulgaria men's under-21 international footballers Bulgaria men's youth international footballers First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Ligue 2 players Eredivisie players Major League Soccer players Challenger Pro League players PFC Slavia Sofia players Lommel S.K. players ES Troyes AC players SC Cambuur players PFC Levski Sofia players Los Angeles FC players PEC Zwolle players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen