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Kristiyan Malinov
	Malinov playing for Litex in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Kristiyan Aleksandrov Malinov
Date of birth	30 March 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth	Petrich, Bulgaria
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Debrecen
Number	33
Youth career
2004–2007	Belasitsa Petrich
2007–2008	Pirin 2001
2008–2013	Litex Lovech
Senior career*
Years	Team
2011–2016	Litex Lovech
2013–2014	→ Dobrudzha (loan)
2016	Litex Lovech II
2016–2020	CSKA Sofia
2016–2017	CSKA Sofia II
2020–2023	OH Leuven
2023–2024	KV Kortrijk
2025–	Debrecen
International career‡
2010	Bulgaria U17
2014–2016	Bulgaria U21
2015–2022	Bulgaria
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 March 2024; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 June 2022

Kristiyan Aleksandrov Malinov (Bulgarian: Кристиян Александров Малинов; born 30 March 1994) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Hungarian club Debrecen. He also plays for the Bulgarian national team.^[2]^[3]

Born in Petrich, Malinov began his youth career with Belasitsa and spent three years in the academy before moving to Pirin 2001. In 2008, he joined Litex Lovech, where he developed in their academy and became a professional in 2013. Malinov made his senior debut while on loan at Dobrudzha in the 2013–14 season, before he broke into Litex's first team during following campaign. In June 2016, he joined CSKA Sofia.

In 2015, Malinov won his first cap for Bulgaria, having previously played for the under-21 team.

Career

Litex Lovech

Malinov joined Litex Lovech's Academy as a fourteen-year-old after playing junior football for his home-town club Belasitsa Petrich and Pirin 2001. He progressed through the club's youth system and made his first appearance in a senior match day squad in November 2011, sitting on the bench for an A Group match against Lokomotiv Plovdiv.^[4]

Loan to Dobrudzha

In July 2013, Malinov was loaned to B Group team Dobrudzha Dobrich for the 2013–14 season.^[5] He made his debut in a 1–0 home win over Akademik Svishtov on 3 August 2013. Coached by former Litex's forward Svetoslav Todorov, Malinov made an immediate impact, appearing in all 26 league matches, scoring four goals. He was substituted only once during the entire league season in the second division.

Return to Litex

Malinov returned to Litex at the end of the season. He made his debut in the team's opening league match of the 2014–15 campaign against CSKA Sofia on 20 July 2014, playing the full 90 minutes in the centre of midfield. On 14 September, he scored his first goal in a 2–0 home win over Haskovo. On 29 November 2014, Malinov opened the scoring against Levski Sofia at Georgi Asparuhov Stadium. Later in the match Litex went 2–1 down, but Malinov created Litex's second goal, which was scored by Kiril Despodov for a 2–2 draw.

CSKA Sofia

In June 2016 Malinov and a big part of the Litex squad moved to CSKA Sofia since the team took the license of Litex for Bulgarian First League.^[6] For four seasons he played a total of 129 games with the club in all competitions, in which he scored 7 goals and recorded 14 assists.

OH Leuven

Malinov joined Belgian club Oud-Heverlee Leuven on 19 August 2020.^[7] On 22 August, he made his debut in a 3–1 home defeat against Charleroi, playing the full 90 minutes.^[8]

Debrecen

Malinov joined Hungarian club Debrecen on 28 December 2024.^[9]

International career

On 7 February 2015, Malinov made his first appearance for Bulgaria, in the 0–0 draw with Romania in a non-official friendly match, being replaced in the 63rd minute by Stefan Velev.^[10] He earned his first cap on 8 June 2015, in the 0–4 loss against Turkey in another exhibition game, after coming on as a substitute during the second half.^[11]

Statistics

Club

As of 26 May 2024^[3]

Club	Season	Division	League		Cup		Europe		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Litex Lovech	2011–12	A Group	0	0	0	0	0	0	–		0	0
	2012–13		0	0	0	0	–		–		0	0
	2014–15		30	2	4	0	1	0	–		35	2
	2015–16		14	2	3	1	2	0	–		19	3
	Total		44	4	7	1	3	0	0	0	54	5
Dobrudzha (loan)	2013–14	B Group	26	4	4	0	–		–		30	4
Litex Lovech II	2015–16	B Group	11	0	–		–		–		11	0
CSKA Sofia	2016–17	First League	17	0	1	0	–		–		18	0
	2017–18		29	3	3	0	–		–		32	3
	2018–19		31	1	5	0	3	0	–		39	1
	2019–20		27	2	6	0	6	1	–		39	3
	2020–21		1	0	0	0	0	0	–		1	0
	Total		105	6	15	0	9	1	0	0	129	7
CSKA Sofia II	2016–17	Second League	9	1	–		–		–		9	1
OH Leuven	2020–21	First Division A	27	2	1	0	–		–		28	2
	2021–22		18	0	2	0	–		–		20	0
	2022–23		21	0	1	0	–		–		22	0
	Total		66	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	70	2
KV Kortrijk	2023–24	Belgian Pro League	18	0	1	0	–		2	0	21	0
	2024–25	Belgian Pro League	0	0	0	0	–		–		0	0
	Total		18	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	21	0
Debreceni VSC	2024–25	Nemzeti Bajnokság	0	0	0	0	–		–		0	0
Career Total			273	17	30	1	12	1	2	0	319	19

International

As of match played 12 June 2022^[12]

Bulgaria national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2015	1	0
2016	0	0
2017	0	0
2018	2	0
2019	8	0
2020	7	0
2021	8	0
2022	3	0
Total	29	0

References

^ "Профил на Кристиян Малинов" (in Bulgarian). fpleague.bg. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
^ "Kristiyan Malinov Facts". footballdatabase.eu. Archived from the original on 17 February 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Malinov Stats". Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
^ "Lokomotiv Plovdiv 2–1 Litex". soccerway.com. 27 November 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
^ "Добруджа взе още един талант от Литекс" (in Bulgarian). football24.bg. 18 July 2013. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
^ "Манолев и петима чужденци от Литекс започнаха подготовка с ЦСКА". Archived from the original on 19 June 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
^ "Malinov went to the Belgian elite". mbs.news. 19 August 2020.
^ "OH Leuven vs. Sporting Charleroi". soccerway.com. 22 August 2020. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
^ "DVSC signed a 30-time capped midfielder". dvsc.hu. 28 December 2024.
^ "Romania vs. Bulgaria 0–0". flashscore.com. 7 February 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
^ "Turkey vs. Bulgaria 4–0 (MatchCast)". topsport.bg. 8 June 2015. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
^ Malinov, Kristiyan at National-Football-Teams.com