Kristian Dimitrov

Kristian Traychev Dimitrov (Кристиан Трайчев Димитров; born 27 February 1997) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Levski Sofia and the Bulgarian national team.

Botev Plovdiv
In the summer of 2013, Dimitrov joined Botev Plovdiv at under-17 level from Lokomotiv Plovdiv and progressed through the club's academy system.

Dimitrov made his first-team debut on 13 March 2016, when he came off the bench to replace Serkan Yusein in the 81st minute of a 3–1 league win over Cherno More Varna. His first senior goal came in the last round of the 2015–16 season; he scored the second goal in a 2–1 win over Ludogorets Razgrad on 27 May.

Dimitrov began to establish himself in the Botev first team from the 2016–17 season, making eight league starts. On 8 June 2017, he signed a new two-year contract with the club.

On 5 February 2018, Dimitrov joined Second League club Montana on loan for the remainder of the 2017–18 season. He made 13 appearances in total. His only goal came on 5 May 2018 when he opened the scoring in a 2–0 away win over Botev Galabovo.

In June 2018, Dimitrov returned to Botev and continued his progress during 2018–19, becoming a regular in the defence. On 24 April 2019, he scored a last-minute goal against CSKA Sofia, bringing the score to 3:3 and enabling his team (which had been reduced to nine men) to progress to the final of the Bulgarian Cup 6:5 on aggregate.

Hajduk Split and the loan to CFR Cluj
On 11 February 2020, it was announced that Dimitrov had signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Hajduk Split.

Not finding much playing time in the 2021/22 season, he was loaned out to CFR Cluj in February 2022. He became a Liga I champion with the Romanian club, featuring in a single game, 3-1 loss against FCSB, scoring in the 45th minute.

Returning to Hajduk, he spent the first part of the 2022/23 season largely on the bench, starting a single cup match, a 5-1 away win against Tehničar Cvetkovec, where he received a red card for a counter-attack stopping foul in the 33rd minute, and his contract was terminated by mutual consent on 17 December 2022. Dimitrov had scored 3 goals in 40 league matches at the Croatian club.

Levski Sofia
On 30 December 2022, Dimitrov returned to Bulgaria, signing a one-and-a-half-year deal with Levski Sofia.

International career
In May 2019, following his good performances for Botev, Dimitrov was called up to the national team by new manager Krasimir Balakov. On 7 June 2019, he made his debut, playing the full 90 minutes in the 1–2 away loss against the Czech Republic in a Euro 2020 qualifier.

International goals

 * Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first.

Style of play
Krasimir Balakov compared Dimitrov with the legendary Bulgarian defender Trifon Ivanov, while being manager of Bulgaria.

Club
Botev Plovdiv
 * Bulgarian Cup: 2016–17
 * Bulgarian Supercup: 2017

CFR Cluj
 * Liga I: 2021–22

Hajduk Split
 * Croatian Cup: 2021–22
 * Croatian Super Cup runner-up: 2022

Individual

 * Bulgarian First League Defender of the Season: 2018–19