Ilia Gruev (footballer, born 2000)
| 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 | 37 | (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 | 18 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 07:58, 4 October 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:11, 8 September 2024 (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. He is the son of former Bulgarian international footballer Iliya Gruev.
Club career
Werder Bremen
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.[4]
The start of the 2022–23 season saw Gruev continue to play regularly for Bremen, appearing in 11 of their first 12 Bundesliga matches.[6]
Leeds United
On 31 August 2023, Gruev signed for EFL Championship club Leeds United on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[7] 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.[8] 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.[8][9][10] On 6 February he again received the man of the match award, in Leeds' FA Cup win at Plymouth.[11]
Having been named in the starting line-ups for each of the 2024–25 season games, Gruev sustained an injury at Norwich City on 1 October 2024, necessitating surgery to repair meniscus damage.[12]
International career
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
Gruev was born in Sofia, but also holds German citizenship.[1] He is the son of Iliya Gruev, former footballer and current manager.[20]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 1 October 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[21] | Regionalliga Nord | 15 | 2 | — | — | — | 15 | 2 | |||
| 2020–21[21] | Regionalliga Nord | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 19 | 2 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2 | ||||
| Werder Bremen | 2020–21[21] | Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22[21] | 2. Bundesliga | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 1 | |||
| 2022–23[21] | Bundesliga | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24[21] | Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 59 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 62 | 1 | |||
| Leeds United | 2023–24[21] | Championship | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[c] | 1 | 35 | 1 |
| 2024–25[21] | Championship | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| Total | 37 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 44 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 115 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 125 | 4 | ||
International
- As of match played 8 September 2024
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria | 2022 | 4 | 0 |
| 2023 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 18 | 0 | |
Honours
- Bulgarian Footballer of the Year runner-up: - 2022, 2023[22]
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Injury update: Ilia Gruev". LeedsUnited.com. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ "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
- ^ Lüddecke, Tim (27 July 2023). "Gruev im Interview: "Man muss immer Mensch bleiben"" [Gruev in an interview: ‘You always have to stay human’]. Kicker (in German). Retrieved 16 May 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Ilia Gruev » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ 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.
External links
- Ilia Gruev at DFB (also available in German)
- Ilia Gruev at kicker (in German)
- Ilia Gruev at Soccerway