Lachezar Hristov Kotev

Kotev is a Sofia-born product of Levski Sofia's youth ranks, where he spent nine years before switching to the Septemvri Sofia academy and making his senior debut for the club in 2015. He joined Vitosha Bistritsa, spending four seasons there with a loan spell at Oborishte Panagyurishte worked in along the way.

His profile rose properly at Arda Kardzhali, where he signed in May 2020 and reached the final of the Bulgarian Cup with the club in 2021. That form earned him a call-up to the senior Bulgarian national side in May 2021, though the cap itself never came; his only international appearances remain the ten matches and two goals he collected for the Bulgaria under-21 side between 2019 and 2020.

In February 2023, Khimki signed him from the Russian side for a fee reported in the region of a few hundred thousand euros. Khimki immediately sent him back to Arda Kardzhali on loan for the 2023–2024 season, and by August 2024 the arrangement had become permanent, with Kotev back at the Bulgarian club on a full-time basis.