Antonio Vutov

Antonio Vutov (Bulgarian: Антонио Вутов; born 6 June 1996) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays for Hungarian club Mezőkövesdi SE as an attacking midfielder, forward or winger.[2]

Antonio Vutov
Vutov playing for Levski Sofia in 2012
Personal information
Full name Antonio Ventsislavov Vutov
Date of birth (1996-06-06) 6 June 1996
Place of birth Mezdra, Bulgaria
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) Winger / Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Mezőkövesdi SE
Youth career
2007–2009 Lokomotiv Mezdra
2009–2012 Levski Sofia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2014 Levski Sofia 28 (3)
2014–2018 Udinese 0 (0)
2015–2016 → Cosenza (loan) 22 (1)
2016–2017 → Lecce (loan) 9 (0)
2017 → Botev Plovdiv (loan) 13 (5)
2017–2018 → Levski Sofia (loan) 26 (2)
2018–2020 Botev Plovdiv 49 (13)
2020– Mezőkövesdi SE 15 (1)
National team‡
2012–2013 Bulgaria U17 6 (2)
2013–2015 Bulgaria U19 15 (5)
2015–2018 Bulgaria U21 22 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 September 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 October 2018

Vutov began his career with Levski Sofia. He joined Serie A club Udinese in January 2014, and had loan spells at Cosenza, Lecce, Botev Plovdiv and Levski before moving permanently to Botev in 2018.

He has also represented Bulgaria internationally at under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels.

Career

Born in Mezdra, Vutov began his career at his hometown club, Lokomotiv Mezdra.[3] When he was 12 years old he was the captain of the U-15 team of Lokomotiv Mezdra.

Levski Sofia

In 2009, he joined Levski Sofia Academy. Vutov made his senior debut for Levski on 8 April 2012, in a 1–1 league draw against Lokomotiv Sofia at the age of 15 years and 307 days, making him the youngest player ever to have played for the club.[4] His first start came in a home league game against Beroe Stara Zagora on 11 May.

Vutov's first goal came in a 7–1 win against Etar 1924 at the Georgi Asparuhov Stadium, on 28 November 2012.[5]

For 2013–14 season, Vutov was handed number 10, last worn by Hristo Yovov. He started to play more often as a first-team regular and for 6 months he made 24 appearances and scored 3 goals in all competitions. Vutov helped Levski to reach the Quarterfinals of the Bulgarian Cup after a 7-6 penalty win against CSKA Sofia, he scored one of the penalties for his team.

Udinese

During the winter break club's boss Todor Batkov announced that Levski are going to sell Antonio to Italian side Udinese. Vutov signed a four-and-a-half-year contract on 9 January[6] and the transfer was officially announced on 11 January 2014 on Udinese's official website. The transfer fee wasn't officially announced but it is believed that Levski got at least 950 000 euros from the deal.[7] Vutov made his Udinese first-team debut on 18 February, in a 0–3 friendly loss against Hajduk Split at Stadion Poljud, playing 78 minutes.

Cosenza (loan)

For the 2015-2016 season, Vutov was loaned out to Cosenza. He made 22 appearances for the club and scored a goal from the penalty spot.

Lecce (loan)

On 12 July 2016 Vutov was loaned out by Udinese to Lecce. On 30 July he debuted with the giallorossi and scored his first official goal for the club in a 2-1 win against Alto Vicentino in a Coppa Italia match.

Botev Plovdiv (loan)
Antonio Vutov and his teammates from Botev Plovdiv celebrating winning the Bulgarian Football Cup in 2017

In January 2017, Vutov was loaned out to Botev Plovdiv for the rest of the season.[8] He made an official debut on 18 February during the 0-1 away win over Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa.[9]

On 7 April, Vutov scored twice during the 7-1 win over PFC Montana.[10] These were his first goals in any official games as a player of Botev Plovdiv. Couple of weeks later, on 22 April, Vutov scored a spectacular goal for the 0-3 away win over Slavia Sofia.[11]

On 26 April Vutov scored a header after a magnificent assist provided by Todor Nedelev in the 1-1 draw with FC Vereya Stara Zagora during the 2nd leg of the semi-finals for the Bulgarian Cup. His goal secured the win for Botev Plovdiv with 2-1 on aggregate and his team proceeded to the final game.[12]

On 19 May Vutov scored an important goal in the playoffs against Beroe Stara Zagora and Botev Plovdiv won on aggregate 2-4.[13]

On 24 May Vutov scored the second goal for the 2-1 victory over Ludogorets Razgrad helping Botev Plovdiv to win the Bulgarian Cup for the third time in the history of the club.[14][15]

During his loan in Botev Plovdiv Antonio Vutov played 16 games, provided 2 assists and scored 7 goals (2 goals in the Bulgarian Cup tournament).

Levski Sofia (loan)

On 13 June 2017, Vutov returned to Levski Sofia on a season-long loan.[16]

Career statistics
As of 2 August 2019
Club Season Division League Cup Continental Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Levski Sofia 2011–12 A Group 50000050
2012–13 416000101
2013–14 1923120243
Udinese 2013–14 Serie A 00000000
2014–15 0000–00
Cosenza (loan) 2015–16 Lega Pro 22120–241
Lecce (loan) 2016–17 9031–121
Botev Plovdiv (loan) 2016–17 First League 13542–177
Levski Sofia (loan) 2017–18 2625120333
Botev Plovdiv 2018–19 23661–297
2019–20 2000–20
Career Total 123 17 29 6 4 0 156 23

Honours
Botev Plovdiv

Personal life

Vutov is an avid Real Madrid fan and has cited Zinedine Zidane as his favourite player.

References
  1. "Отборът на "Левски" (София)" (in Bulgarian). samolevski23.alle.bg. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  2. "Antonio Vutov Facts". footballdatabase.eu.
  3. "Антонио Вутов – Чудото от "Герена"" (in Bulgarian). temasport.com. 25 February 2012.
  4. "Антонио Вутов с уникален рекорд!" (in Bulgarian). viasport.bg. 8 April 2012.
  5. "Антонио Вутов с първи гол за Левски" (in Bulgarian). viasport.bg. 28 November 2012.
  6. "Levski Sofia teenager Vutov joins Udinese". reuters.com. 9 January 2014.
  7. "Футболен Пепеляшко от Мездра" (in Bulgarian). trud.bg. 6 January 2014. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  8. "Антонио Вутов и Фернандо Виана се присъединиха към Ботев" (in Bulgarian). botevplovdiv.bg. 28 January 2017. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  9. Ботев надви Локомотив в Горна Оряховица
  10. Ботев разпиля Монтана със 7 гола, Крис Добрев влезе в историята на 15 години
  11. Ботев с ключова победа над Славия като гост
  12. "БОТЕВ НА ФИНАЛ!". Archived from the original on 2018-05-21. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
  13. Ботев отстрани Берое и чака съперника за следващия плейоф
  14. Ботев (Пловдив) триумфира с Купата на България!
  15. "ВИВА КАНАРИ!!! БОТЕВ Я ПРЕГЪРНА". Archived from the original on 2017-08-10. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  16. "Вутов подписа с Левски за една година" (in Bulgarian). levski.bg. 13 June 2017.
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