Ilia Gruev (footballer, born 2000)

Ilia Iliev Gruev (Илия Илиев Груев; born 6 May 2000) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Leeds United and the Bulgaria national team. He is the son of former Bulgarian international footballer Iliya Gruev.

Werder Bremen
After playing youth football for Rot-Weiß Erfurt, Gruev moved to Werder Bremen in 2015. 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.

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.

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. Werder Bremen were promoted to the Bundesliga at the end of the season, after finishing 2nd with 63 points. Gruev extended his contract with Werder Bremen in summer 2022.

The start of the 2022–23 season saw Gruev continue to play regularly for Bremen, appearing in 11 of their first 12 Bundesliga matches.

Leeds United
On 31 August 2023, Gruev signed for EFL Championship club Leeds United on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee. 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. 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. On 6 February he again received the man of the match award, in Leeds' FA Cup win at Plymouth.

International career
Gruev has appeared for the Bulgaria under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-21 national teams. 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. He made his debut in the match against Gibraltar on 23 September, won 5–1 by Bulgaria.

Personal life
Gruev was born in Sofia, but also holds German citizenship. He is the son of Iliya Gruev, former footballer and current manager.

Honours

 * Bulgarian Footballer of the Year runner-up: - 2022, 2023