# Kristian Dimitrov

Kristian Traychev Dimitrov (Bulgarian: 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.

## Club career
### 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.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of 9 February 2025
| Club performance | Club performance | Club performance | League | League | Cup | Cup | Continental | Continental | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | League | Season | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Botev Plovdiv | First League | 2015–16 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 3 | 1 |
| Botev Plovdiv | First League | 2016–17 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 13 | 0 |
| Botev Plovdiv | First League | 2017–18 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Botev Plovdiv | First League | 2018–19 | 31 | 4 | 5 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 36 | 5 |
| Botev Plovdiv | First League | 2019–20 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 18 | 0 |
| Botev Plovdiv | Total | Total | 64 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 6 |
| Montana (loan) | Second League | 2017–18 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 13 | 1 |
| Hajduk Split | 1. HNL | 2019–20 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 14 | 1 |
| Hajduk Split | 1. HNL | 2020–21 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 21 | 2 |
| Hajduk Split | 1. HNL | 2021–22 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 0 |
| Hajduk Split | 1. HNL | 2022–23 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 |
| Hajduk Split | Total | Total | 40 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 3 |
| CFR Cluj (loan) | Liga I | 2021–22 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Levski Sofia | First League | 2022–23 | 8 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Levski Sofia | First League | 2023–24 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 30 | 2 |
| Levski Sofia | First League | 2024–25 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 21 | 5 |
| Levski Sofia | Total | Total | 52 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 60 | 7 |
| Career statistics | Career statistics | Career statistics | 166 | 17 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 188 | 18 |
* ↑ UEFA Europa League matches.

### International stats

    As of match played 14 October 2023
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Bulgaria | 2019 | 6 | 1 |
| Bulgaria | 2020 | 6 | 0 |
| Bulgaria | 2021 | 2 | 0 |
| Bulgaria | 2023 | 3 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 17 | 1 |

### International goals

    Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first.
| No | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 10 June 2019 | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria | 6 | Kosovo | 2–1 | 2–3 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualification |

## Style of play

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

## Honours
### 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