A Sheffield Wednesday academy product has found his fifth club since leaving Hillsborough.
Preslav Borukov joined Sheffield Wednesday‘s academy from Levski Sofia in 2016 and moved up through the ranks until signing his first professional contract two years later.
This made him the first Bulgarian footballer in The Owls’ history, as well as the youngest Bulgarian to sign a professional contract in England.
Borukov was named on the bench on two occasions in the Championship and FA Cup during the 2019-20 season, but failed to make his debut before he was released at the end of the season.
At 20 years old, the forward returned to Bulgaria with Etar, where he netted 12 goals in 30 games.
After a very brief stint in Hungary with Zalaegerszeg, he returned to Bulgaria once again with Lokomotiv Plovdiv. He only managed four goals in 30 league games here, before joining Arda Kardzhali in January 2022.
After bagging eleven goals in 38 games in the Bulgarian top division, Borukov has now earned himsel a move away from Southeast Europe.
The 23-year-old confirmed yesterday that he has joined Liga Portugal 2 club, Maritimo de Madeira.
Taking to Instagram, Borukov wrote: “Thank you for the warm welcome @csmaritimomadeira.”
Maritimo were relegated from the Primeira Liga last season, having previously spent 38 consecutive years in the top flight.
The club currently sit fourth in Liga Portugal 2, six points from the automatic promotion spots and only three from the play-off position.
What happened to Preslav Borukov?
Sheffield Wednesday have a number of highly successful stars who have come from their academy over the years, such as Liam Palmer, Jamie Vardy and Kevin Pressman.
But there will always be some that don’t quite reach the heights that had been predicted of them, and Preslav Borukov is one that very quickly went off the boil after he was released.
The attacker was never really given his chance at Hillsborough, but he certainly didn’t go onto prove himself either.
The Bulgaria international still has plenty of years to find his feet, but having spent most of his senior career in his home country, it hasn’t looked very promising. Perhaps promotion to the Primeira Liga could be the boost he needs to kickstart his career.