Wellington Phoenix have confirmed the signing of Bulgarian international Bozhidar Kraev on a two-year deal for their upcoming A-League season.
Kraev, 25, has been capped 24 times for his country, most recently in a 'friendly' against France last August.
He's previously been on the books of Danish giants FC Midtjylland, where he faced Liverpool and Ajax in the Champions League.
Kraev looks forward to being part of an increasingly growing A-League and hopes to bring success to the Wellington club.
"The offer from the Phoenix interested me," Kraev said. "I had a couple of other options, but I had a good feeling about this.
"The A-League is growing and getting popular, and I wanted to be a part of it.
"I'm a creative player, and my role is to score and assist goals. I want to play the maximum amount of games and help the Phoenix to the highest possible position in the league."
Phoenix head coach Ufux Talay believes Kraev has all the right attributes to forge a successful career at Wellington.
"He's young, which is a positive," Talay said. "He's 25, which I think is a good age.
"He's also energetic and when I spoke to him on the phone about making the move, he was excited to come to New Zealand and play in the A-League."
Talay says Kraev is "a little bit different to the 10s we've previously signed".
"He's a lot bigger. At 186cms tall, he's a good size.
"He's strong on the ball and deceptively quick for his height, but he's still technically good on the ball and he can score goals.
"Hopefully he can score and assist goals for us too. He's a natural 10 and with the attributes he has, I think he'll fit in pretty well to the way we set up."
The Phoenix have now signed 19 players for the upcoming A-League season, with the club to announce further additions over the coming months.
Kraev will wear the No.11 shirt for the Phoenix this season.
