Liverpool have signed Nikolay Mihaylov, a young goalkeeper
from Bulgarian champions Levski Sofia, for an as-yet undisclosed fee. Mihaylov is
19 tomorrow and is an under-21 international for Bulgaria. He has signed for
three years with an option of a further two.
Speaking to Bulgarian website sportal.bg, Nikolay seemed
speechless: "I have no words. This is the greatest moment of my life."
He made his debut for Levski as a 16-year-old and played in
last season's group stages in the Champions League for Levski.
Earlier in the day Nikolay's father spoke anxiously as he
waited for the results of the medical to be revealed: "Nikolay had a medical
and we are waiting for the results right now. If all goes well, he will sign a
three-year deal, with an option to extend it for another two seasons. If the
deal goes through, we will hold a press conference when we return tomorrow."
His father Borislav and grandfather Bisser were both
national keepers for Bulgaria. He had a spell of nightmare performances last
season though, including a Champions League tie against Werder when he messed
up a back-pass and scored an own-goal, before letting in two more goals in five
minutes. This reportedly turned many fans against him and he also fell out with
Levski boss Stanimir Stoilov who had made him third-choice keeper by the end of
the season.
He went for a trial with Fiorentina which ended around four
weeks ago, but wasn't signed by the Italian side. He was hopeful at the time: "My
stay at Fiorentina was great. I spent one week there and participated with
their youth team in a tournament in Parma. I played both games as we first drew
1-1 with Piacenza and eliminated them on penalties and then we were defeated
1-0 by Bologna in the final."
Liverpool haven't yet confirmed the deal officially.