Valeri Emilov Bojinov (, ; born 15 February 1986) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a striker. Throughout his career, Bojinov has played for seventeen different clubs during his various spells in Italy, as well as in England, Portugal, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, China and Switzerland. At international level, he also played for the Bulgarian national team. His surname is sometimes transliterated as Bozhinov. Biography Born in Gorna Oryahovitsa, Bulgaria, Bojinov moved to Malta at the age of 12 with his mother Pepa, a former Bulgaria women's national football team player, and stepfather Sasho Angelov, who had played for the Bulgarian national football team during the 1990s. Bojinov was discovered at the age of 14 by Lecce sports director Pantaleo Corvino while playing for Pietà Hotspurs, and signed for just 30,000,000 ITL (around €15,000). Club career Lecce Bojinov settled in the city of Lecce and continued his studies there while playing for Lecce's youth teams. He debuted in the Italian Serie A on 27 January 2002 at the age of 15 years and 11 months, becoming the youngest foreign player to make an appearance at the top level of Italian football. He scored his first goal in the top division on 6 January 2004 in a 2–1 home defeat against Bologna, becoming the youngest non-national to score in Serie A. Fiorentina Bojinov was acquired by Fiorentina in January 2005. He made his club debut against Palermo, playing the full match on 2 February 2005. On 26 February 2005, he scored his first goal for Fiorentina, against Udinese. On 8 May 2005, Bojinov scored a winning goal in 79th minute against Chievo at Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi in 2–1 away win. During the 2004–05 season, Bojinov has played a total of nine matches, scoring two goals. Juventus For the 2006–07 season, Fiorentina loaned Bojinov to Juventus, which had just been relegated to Serie B. Manchester City On 3 August 2007, it was reported that Bojinov had completed his move to English Premier League club Manchester City, signing a four-year contract in an undisclosed fee deal. On 11 August 2007, he made his debut for the club in a 2–0 away win against West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground, entering as a substitute for Rolando Bianchi in the 60th minute in league play. Bojinov was ruled out of action for five months after he suffered a knee ligament injury against Manchester