Hristo Stoichkov
Despodov made his way through the youth teams at Litex Lovech before making his senior debut in 2012 at the age of 15. He was transferred to CSKA Sofia in June 2016, where he established himself as the team's star player, winning the Bulgarian Footballer of the Year award in 2018 - the first CSKA player to do so since Hristo Stoichkov in 1989.