 Despodov warming up forBulgaria in October 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kiril Vasilev Despodov | ||
| Date of birth | (1996-11-11)11 November 1996 (age 29) | ||
| Place of birth | Kresna, Bulgaria | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position | Winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | PAOK | ||
| Number | 77 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2008–2015 | Litex Lovech | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012–2016 | Litex Lovech | 37 | (4) |
| 2015–2016 | Litex Lovech II | 13 | (2) |
| 2016 | CSKA Sofia II | 1 | (0) |
| 2016–2019 | CSKA Sofia | 71 | (20) |
| 2019–2021 | Cagliari | 5 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | →Sturm Graz (loan) | 19 | (8) |
| 2020–2021 | →Ludogorets Razgrad (loan) | 20 | (5) |
| 2021–2023 | Ludogorets Razgrad | 59 | (22) |
| 2023– | PAOK | 69 | (18) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2012–2013 | Bulgaria U17 | 9 | (5) |
| 2012–2015 | Bulgaria U19 | 17 | (5) |
| 2015–2018 | Bulgaria U21 | 20 | (8) |
| 2017– | Bulgaria | 60 | (15) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:57, 11 December 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 18 November 2025 | |||
Kiril Vasilev Despodov (Bulgarian:Кирил Василев Десподов; born 11 November 1996) is aBulgarian professionalfootballer who plays primarily as awinger forSuper League Greece clubPAOK and theBulgaria national team, which he captains.[1]
Despodov made his way through the youth teams atLitex Lovech before making his senior debut in 2012 at the age of 15. He became part ofCSKA Sofia in June 2016, where he established himself as the team's star player, winning theBulgarian Footballer of the Year award in 2018 – the first CSKA player to do so sinceHristo Stoichkov in 1989. He won it for second time in 2021, and again in 2022.
On 23 March 2018, Despodov made his senior international debut for Bulgaria in a 1–0 friendly loss againstBosnia and Herzegovina.
Despodov was born inKresna. He joinedLitex Lovech's Academy at the age of 12 and progressed through the club's youth system. He played an important role in Litex's 2012BFU U-16 Cup win, scoring two goals in the final againstCherno More on 26 April.[2]
Despodov made his first team debut underHristo Stoichkov's management,[3] at 15 years 183 days, in a 5–0league win overKaliakra Kavarna on 12 May 2012, coming on as a substitute forSvetoslav Todorov.[4] He scored his first goal on 10 August 2013, netting the fifth in a 5–1 away league win overPirin Gotse Delchev.
On 22 November 2014, Despodov scored his first goal of the 2014–15 season againstCherno More in a 3–0 away win. On 27 November, he signed his first professional contract with Litex shortly after turning 18.[5] Two days later he scored his second goal of the season in a 2–2 away draw againstLevski Sofia in the 66th minute to clinch a point for his team.
Despite the not so good start of the season 2015–16 for Despodov, as he played only in 4 matches from 19 rounds, he became a hero in the quarterfinals of the Bulgarian Cup. In the match againstLevski Sofia, after coming on as a substitute in the 76th minute when the match was 0–0 and Litex was down to 10 people, they eventually ended up winning the game after extra time 3–0, with Despodov scoring 2 of the goals.[6][7]
He joinedCSKA Sofia in the summer of 2016.[8] On 29 April 2017, Despodov scored his first goal inThe Eternal Derby, netting the second in CSKA Sofia's 3–0 win overLevski Sofia in aFirst Professional Football League match.[9] Remaining with the club until January 2019 and becoming popular with the fans of the "redmen", Despodov later began receiving a frosty reception from many of them as a result of becoming part of the ranks of league rivalsLudogorets Razgrad in 2020.[8] On 30 April 2023, a decisive league match between CSKA Sofia and Ludogorets Razgrad had to be temporarily halted after Despodov was unable to take a corner kick as a result of objects being thrown at him by CSKA supporters.[10]
On 30 January 2019, Despodov completed a transfer toSerie A sideCagliari, signing a contract until 2023 with an extension option for one more season. CSKA Sofia did not reveal the exact transfer fee, but it was reported that it broke the record for an outgoingFirst League transfer of a local Bulgarian player, which until then wasHristo Stoichkov's$4.5 million move toBarcelona in the summer of 1990.[11] He made his debut for the club in a 3–0 away loss toMilan on 10 February, coming on forArtur Ioniță in the 75th minute.[12]
On 2 September 2019, Despodov was loaned toSturm Graz for the 2019–20 season.[13]
On 5 October 2020, Cagliari announced that Despodov would be loaned toLudogorets Razgrad with an option to buy. The deal would see him remain at the club for the duration of the2020–21 campaign.[14][15]
On 19 June 2021, Ludogorets announced that he had signed permanently with the club.[16] On 12 March 2023, Despodov scored his first hat-trick for Ludogorets in a 3–2 home win overCherno More in a league match.[17]
On 4 September 2023,Super League Greece clubPAOK announced the signing of Despodov on a four-year contract,[18] for a reported fee of €3 million.[19] On 28th January 2024, he scored a brace in a home match againstPanathinaikos, securing a 2–1 win.
On 7 February 2015, Despodov made his first appearance forBulgaria, in a goalless draw withRomania in a non-officialfriendly match, coming on as a latesubstitute forStanislav Manolev.[20] He was also called up in March 2017, for a 2018 World Cup qualifier against theNetherlands, but remained on the bench.[21] Despodov finally made his complete debut for Bulgaria on 23 March 2018 in a friendly match againstBosnia and Herzegovina, replacingSpas Delev shortly after the one hour mark.[22]
On 13 October 2018, he scored his first goal for the national team in a 2–1 home win againstCyprus, in a match for the2018–19 UEFA Nations League. His second goal came in a2022 FIFA World Cup qualification againstSwitzerland national football team. On 29 March 2022, Despodov opened the scoring in the friendly match againstCroatia, but was dismissed from the field almost immediately after that due to receiving a second yellow card for taking off his shirt as part of hisgoal celebration.[23]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Litex Lovech | 2011–12 | A Group | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2012–13 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||||
| 2013–14 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 2 | ||||
| 2014–15 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 2 | ||||
| 2015–16 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 2 | — | — | 9 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 36 | 4 | 13 | 2 | — | — | 49 | 6 | ||||
| Litex Lovech II | 2015–16 | B Group | 13 | 2 | — | — | — | 13 | 2 | |||
| CSKA Sofia II | 2016–17 | Second League | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| CSKA Sofia | 2016–17 | First League | 25 | 4 | — | — | — | 25 | 4 | |||
| 2017–18 | 30 | 8 | 3 | 3 | — | — | 33 | 11 | ||||
| 2018–19 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 5[b] | 2 | — | 22 | 10 | |||
| Total | 71 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 2 | — | 80 | 25 | |||
| Cagliari | 2018–19 | Serie A | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| 2020–21 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||||
| Sturm Graz (loan) | 2019–20 | Austrian Bundesliga | 19 | 8 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 21 | 9 | ||
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 2020–21 | First League | 20 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4[b] | 1 | — | 28 | 6 | |
| 2021–22 | 25 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 13[c] | 3 | 1[d] | 0 | 41 | 10 | ||
| 2022–23 | 30 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 13[e] | 3 | 1[d] | 2 | 48 | 19 | ||
| 2023–24 | 4 | 2 | — | 7[f] | 2 | — | 11 | 4 | ||||
| Total | 79 | 27 | 10 | 1 | 37 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 128 | 39 | ||
| PAOK | 2023–24 | Super League Greece | 33 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 10[g] | 2 | — | 47 | 13 | |
| 2024–25 | 25 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 16[h] | 3 | — | 44 | 8 | |||
| 2025–26 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 1 | — | 22 | 4 | |||
| Total | 70 | 18 | 10 | 1 | 33 | 6 | — | 113 | 25 | |||
| Career total | 294 | 79 | 39 | 8 | 75 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 410 | 106 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria | |||
| 2018 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 11 | 2 | |
| 2022 | 9 | 6 | |
| 2023 | 10 | 3 | |
| 2024 | 9 | 3 | |
| 2025 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 60 | 15 | |
International goals
Ludogorets Razgrad
PAOK
