Ilia Gruev (footballer, born 2000)

In this Bulgarian name, the patronymic is Iliev and the family name is Gruev.

Ilia Gruev

Personal information
Full name	Ilia Iliev Gruev[1]
Date of birth	(2000-05-06) 6 May 2000 (age 24)
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
0000–2015	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]

International career

Gruev has appeared for the Bulgaria under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-21 national teams.^{[1][12][13][14][15][16]} 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.^[17] He made his debut in the match against Gibraltar on 23 September, won 5–1 by Bulgaria.^[18]

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.^[19]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 31 August 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

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[20]	Regionalliga Nord	15	2	—		—		—		15	2
	2020–21[20]	Regionalliga Nord	4	0	—		—		—		4	0
	Total		19	2	—		—		0	0	19	2
Werder Bremen	2020–21[20]	Bundesliga	1	0	2	0	—		—		3	0
	2021–22[20]	2. Bundesliga	26	1	0	0	—		—		26	1
	2022–23[20]	Bundesliga	31	0	1	0	—		—		32	0
	2023–24[20]	Bundesliga	1	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
	Total		59	1	3	0	—		0	0	62	1
Leeds United	2023–24[20]	Championship	29	0	3	0	0	0	3[c]	1	35	1
	2024–25[20]	Championship	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	0
	Total		33	0	3	0	0	0	3	1	40	1
Career total			111	3	6	0	1	0	1	0	121	4

1. Includes DFB-Pokal, FA Cup
2. Includes EFL Cup
3. Appearances in Championship play-offs

International

As of match played 8 September 2024

Appearances and goals by national team and year

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^[21]

References

1. Ilia Gruev at WorldFootball.net
2. "Werder Bremen bindet Ilia Gruev an sich". kicker (in German). 15 April 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
3. "Germany » DFB-Pokal 2020/2021 » 2. Round » Hannover 96 – Werder Bremen 0:3". WorldFootball.net. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
4. Knips, Björn (27 June 2022). "Gruev nach Vertragsverlängerung: "Das soll mein Startschuss sein"". weser-kurier-de (in German). Retrieved 30 March 2024.
5. "2. Bundesliga 2021/2022 - 34. Round". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
6. Cottäus, Daniel (2 November 2022). "Ilia Gruevs großer Schritt in die Startelf bei Werder Bremen". weser-kurier-de (in German). Retrieved 31 March 2024.
7. "Ilia Gruev joins Leeds United from Werder Bremen". www.leedsunited.com. 31 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
8. 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.
9. "Gruev Voted Boost Player of the Match against Cardiff". www.leedsunited.com. 15 January 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
10. Bürger, Malte (16 January 2024). "Werder Bremen: Ex-Profi Gruev begeistert die Leeds-Fans". weser-kurier-de. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
11. "Leeds United news: Ilia Gruev on 'deserving' chance to play big club". BBC Sport. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
12. "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.
13. "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.
14. "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.
15. "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.
16. "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.
17. "Кръстаич обяви играчите за Гибралтар и Северна Македония, Чочев и Михайлов са аут". Sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). 5 September 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
18. Зрелищен успех за младата България в дебюта на Младен Кърстаич
19. 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.
20. "Ilia Gruev » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
21. 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