{{short description|Bulgarian footballer (born 2000)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{family name hatnote|Ivaylov|Antov|lang=Bulgarian}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Valentin Antov | image = Valentin Antov in 2019.jpg | caption = Antov with CSKA Sofia in 2019 | fullname = Valentin Ivaylov Antov | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|2000|11|9}} | birth_place = Sofia, Bulgaria | height = 1.87 m<ref>{{Cite web |title=Valentin Antov |url=https://www.acmonza.com/it/player/132/|website=AC Monza|access-date=31 August 2022 |language=it |archive-date=31 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831164433/https://www.acmonza.com/it/player/132/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | position = Centre-back, defensive midfielder | currentclub = Monza | clubnumber = 6 | youthyears1 = 2007–2017 | youthclubs1 = CSKA Sofia | years1 = 2016–2017 | clubs1 = CSKA Sofia II | caps1 = 5 | goals1 = 0 | years2 = 2015–2022 | clubs2 = CSKA Sofia | caps2 = 60 | goals2 = 3 | years3 = 2021 | clubs3 = → Bologna (loan) | caps3 = 5 | goals3 = 0 | years4 = 2021–2022 | clubs4 = → Monza (loan) | caps4 = 6<!-- DO NOT INCLUDE PLAY-OFF GAMES --> | goals4 = 0 | years5 = 2022– | clubs5 = Monza | caps5 = 10 | goals5 = 0 | years6 = 2023–2025 | clubs6 = → Cremonese (loan) | caps6 = 62 | goals6 = 2 | nationalyears1 = 2013–2015 | nationalteam1 = Bulgaria U16 | nationalcaps1 = 9 | nationalgoals1 = 0 | nationalyears2 = 2015–2016 | nationalteam2 = Bulgaria U17 | nationalcaps2 = 12 | nationalgoals2 = 0 | nationalyears3 = 2016–2017 | nationalteam3 = Bulgaria U18 | nationalcaps3 = 2 | nationalgoals3 = 0 | nationalyears4 = 2016–2018 | nationalteam4 = Bulgaria U19 | nationalcaps4 = 5 | nationalgoals4 = 1 | nationalyears5 = 2019–2022 | nationalteam5 = Bulgaria U21 | nationalcaps5 = 14 | nationalgoals5 = 0 | nationalyears6 = 2019– | nationalteam6 = Bulgaria | nationalcaps6 = 33 | nationalgoals6 = 2 | club-update = 12 May 2026 | nationalteam-update = 23:12, 23 March 2025 (UTC) }} '''Valentin Ivaylov Antov''' ({{langx|bg|Валентин Ивайлов Антов}}; born 9 November 2000) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or defensive midfielder for {{Italian football updater|Monza}} club Monza and the Bulgaria national team.
A youth product of CSKA Sofia, Antov became the youngest player ever to represent the club when he made his debut in 2015 at the age of 14 years, 9 months and 10 days. He moved on loan to Serie A side Bologna in the second half of the 2020–21 season, and to Serie B side Monza in the summer of 2021.
Antov has represented Bulgaria at every international level, debuting for the senior team in March 2019 at the age of 18.
==Club career== ===CSKA Sofia=== [[File:Valentin Antov in 2018.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Antov playing for CSKA Sofia in 2018]] On 19 August 2015, Antov made his first team debut in a Bulgarian Cup match against Sofia 2010, becoming CSKA's youngest ever debutant at the age of 14 years, 9 months and 10 days, while also becoming the youngest ever captain for the club after taking the captain's armband for the last 25 minutes of the match.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Сега Антов, до 3-4 години Брилянтов!|url=https://topsport.bg/cska/sega-antov-do-3-4-godini-brilyantov.html|website=Top Sport|access-date=21 April 2018|language=bg}}</ref>
Antov made his First League debut on 14 April 2018, in a league match against Vereya.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Валентин Антов: Щастлив съм, че дебютирах|url=http://www.novsport.com/news2761151_1020.html|website=Novsport|date=14 April 2018|language=bg|access-date=21 April 2018|archive-date=22 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422062555/http://www.novsport.com/news2761151_1020.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He began to establish himself in the CSKA first team during the 2018–19 season, playing 26 matches in all competitions.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} On 12 July 2018, Antov made his debut in the Europa League playing 90 minutes in the first match of the first qualifying round against Latvian club Riga.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Валентин Антов: Изненадах се, когато видях, че ще играя срещу Рига|url=https://www.sportal.bg/news.php?news=736069|access-date=19 July 2018|language=bg}}</ref>
===Italy=== On 1 February 2021, Antov was loaned to Serie A club Bologna until the end of the season with an option for a permanent transfer.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Официално: Валентин Антов премина в Болоня|url=http://cska.bg/index.php?main_page=document_general_info&products_id=9661|website=CSKA Sofia|access-date=1 February 2021|language=bg}}</ref>
====Monza==== On 27 August 2021, Antov was sent on a one-year loan to Serie B side Monza, with a conditional obligation for purchase.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Valentin Antov è biancorosso|url=https://www.acmonza.com/it/news/2841/|website=AC Monza|access-date=27 August 2021|language=it}}</ref> He made his league debut the same year on 21 September, starting in a 2–1 loss to Pisa.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Il Monza comincia male a Pisa: sotto di un gol alla fine del primo tempo|url=https://www.ilcittadinomb.it/stories/Sport/il-monza-comincia-male-a-pisa-sotto-di-un-gol-alla-fine-del-primo-tempo_1407693_11/|website=Il Citta di Nomb|date=21 September 2021 |access-date=21 September 2021|language=it}}</ref> Following Monza's Serie A promotion on 29 May 2022, Antov's obligation for purchase clause was triggered.<ref>{{Cite news|first=Andrea|last=Losapio|title=Monza, riscattato Antov dal CSKA per due milioni|url=https://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/serie-a/tmw-monza-riscattato-antov-dal-cska-per-due-milioni-1695622|website=Tutto Mercato Web|date=17 June 2022|access-date=24 June 2022|language=it}}</ref>
====Loan to Cremonese==== On 31 August 2023, Antov joined Cremonese on loan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://uscremonese.it/valentin-antov-e-un-nuovo-giocatore-della-cremonese/|title=Valentin Antov è un nuovo giocatore della Cremonese|trans-title=Valentin Antov is a new player of Cremonese|website=Cremonese|date=31 August 2023|access-date=31 August 2023|language=it}}</ref> After having played 35 games in the 2023–24 Serie B season, Antov's loan was renewed for a further season on 13 July 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Valentin Antov in prestito alla Cremonese - Associazione Calcio Monza S.p.A. |url=https://www.acmonza.com/it/news/valentin-antov-in-prestito-alla-cremonese-13072024/ |access-date=2024-07-14 |website=www.acmonza.com |language=it}}</ref>
==International career== On 25 March 2019, Antov debuted for the Bulgarian senior squad as an 80th-minute substitute for Georgi Kostadinov in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Kosovo.<ref>{{Cite news|title=След много битка България се измъкна в Косово (видео + снимки)|url=https://sportal.bg/news-2020060405455956450|website=Sportal|date=25 March 2019|language=bg|quote=Петър Занев замени Делев, след което младият Мартин Минчев влезе вместо Малинов, а контузеният Костадинов напусна за сметка на Валентин Антов, който дебютира за България|trans-quote=Petar Zanev replaced Delev, then the young Martin Minchev came in for Malinov, and the injured Kostadinov left for Valentin Antov, who debuted for Bulgaria.}}</ref> On 23 September 2022, he scored his first international goal in a 5–1 victory against Gibraltar during the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Валентин Антов: С цялото ми уважение към Гибралтар, но този мач трябваше да го вземем|url=https://bntnews.bg/news/valentin-antov-s-cyaloto-mi-uvazhenie-kam-gibraltar-no-tozi-mach-tryabvashe-da-go-vzemem-1208373news.html|website=BNT 1|publisher=Bulgarian National Television|date=24 September 2022|language=bg}}</ref>
==Personal life== Antov is a nephew of former footballer Anatoli Nankov.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gol.bg/komentari-i-analizi/2015-08-22/deteto-chudo-na-tsska-valyo-antov|title=Детето чудо на ЦСКА - Вальо Антов|website=Gol Bulgaria|date=22 August 2015|language=bg}}</ref>
==Career statistics== ===Club=== {{updated|match played 14 March 2025}}<ref name="soccerway">{{Soccerway|416117|access-date=6 November 2022}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|Season !rowspan="2"|Division !colspan="2"|League !colspan="2"|National cup{{Efn|Includes Bulgarian Cup, Coppa Italia}} !colspan="2"|Continental !colspan="2"|Other !colspan="2"|Total |- !Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals |- |CSKA Sofia II |2016–17 | rowspan="1" |Second League |5||0|| colspan="2" |—|| colspan="2" |—|| colspan="2" |—||5||0 |- | rowspan="7" |CSKA Sofia |2015–16 |Third League |4||0||1||0|| colspan="2" |—|| colspan="2" |—||5||0 |- |2017–18 |First League |4||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—|| colspan="2" |—||4||0 |- |2018–19 |First League |18||0||3||0||5{{Efn|Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League|name=UEL}}||0||colspan="2"|—||26||0 |- |2019–20 |First League |17||1||6||0||2{{Efn|name=UEL}}||0||colspan="2"|—||29||1 |- |2020–21 |First League |16||2||0||0||10{{Efn|name=UEL}}||0||colspan="2"|—||26||2 |- |2021–22 |First League |1||0||0||0||6{{Efn|name=UEL}}||0||1{{Efn|Appearance in Bulgarian Supercup|name=bulsuper}}||0||8||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total !60!!3!!10!!0!!24!!0!!1!!0!!95!!3 |- |Bologna (loan) |2020–21 |Serie A |5||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—|| colspan="2" |—||5||0 |- |Monza (loan) |2021–22 |Serie B |6||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—||1{{Efn|Appearance in play-offs|name=PO}}||0||7||0 |- |Monza |2022–23 |Serie A |9||0||3||0|| colspan="2" |—|| colspan="2" |—||12||0 |- |rowspan=3|Cremonese (loan) |2023–24 |rowspan=2|Serie B |31||1||1||0||colspan="2"|—||2{{Efn|Appearance in play-offs|name=PO}}||0||34||1 |- |2024–25 |26||1||2||0||colspan="2"|—||0||0||28||1 |- !colspan="2"|Total !57!!2!!3!!0!!0!!0!!2!!0!!62!!2 |- ! colspan=3 | Career Total !141!!5!!16!!0!!24!!0!!4!!0!!185!!5 |} {{notelist}}
===International=== {{updated|match played 23 March 2025}}<ref name="NFT">{{NFT player|74028|access-date=23 September 2022}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Appearances and goals by national team and year |- !National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="7"|Bulgaria |2019||1||0 |- |2020||2||0 |- |2021||8||0 |- |2022||4||1 |- |2023||9||0 |- |2024||8||0 |- |2025||1||1 |- !colspan="2"|Total||33||2 |}
:''Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Antov goal.''
{| class="wikitable sortable" |+ List of international goals scored by Valentin Antov |- !scope="col"|No. !scope="col"|Date !scope="col"|Venue !scope="col"|Opponent !scope="col"|Score !scope="col"|Result !scope="col"|Competition |- |style="text-align:center"|1 |{{dts|23 September 2022}} |Huvepharma Arena, Razgrad, Bulgaria |{{fb|GIB}} |style="text-align:center"|1–0 |style="text-align:center"|5–1 |2022–23 UEFA Nations League C |- |style="text-align:center"|2 |{{dts|23 March 2025}} |Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland |{{fb|IRL}} |style="text-align:center"|1–0 |style="text-align:center"|1–2 |UEFA Nations League relegation playoff |}
==Honours== '''CSKA Sofia''' * Bulgarian Cup: 2020–21
'''Individual''' * Bulgarian Youth Footballer of the Year: 2018 * Bulgarian First League Best Defender of the Year: 2020
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commonscat}} * {{Soccerway|416117}} * {{UEFA player}}
{{AC Monza squad}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antov, Valentin}} Category:2000 births Category:Living people Category:Footballers from Sofia Category:Bulgarian men's footballers Category:21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen Category:Men's association football midfielders Category:Men's association football defenders Category:PFC CSKA Sofia players Category:Bologna FC 1909 players Category:AC Monza players Category:US Cremonese players Category:First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Category:Serie A players Category:Serie B players Category:Bulgaria men's youth international footballers Category:Bulgaria men's international footballers Category:Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Category:Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Italy