Ivan Pavlov Goranov

Ivan Goranov's career started far from the pitches he would later play on, in the youth ranks of Chepinets in his home town of Velingrad before moves to the CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia academies pointed him towards the top flight. He made his professional debut with Levski in 2010, and a year later joined Beroe as part of a deal involving Todor Hristov. That switch paid off: with Beroe he won the Bulgarian Cup in 2012–13 and followed it with the Bulgarian Supercup the following year.

A 3.5-year spell at Litex Lovech and a stint at Lokomotiv Plovdiv came next, before Goranov returned to Levski Sofia as a free agent in 2017. That second spell at Levski became the defining stretch of his career: he was made captain and, in 2021–22, lifted the Bulgarian Cup wearing the armband.

From there his career took him abroad. A move to Belgian side Charleroi in 2020 was followed by a run of loans and transfers across Europe — a return to Levski, then Lamia in Greece, Universitatea Cluj in Romania, where he reached a Romanian Cup final, and further Greek spells at Ionikos and Chania. At international level, Goranov earned seven caps for Bulgaria between 2018 and 2020, making his debut against Slovenia in the Nations League, having previously represented the under-21 side nine times.

In September 2025 he signed for Botev Vratsa as a free agent on a contract running to the summer of 2027, taking his career back into Bulgaria's domestic game. Now the club's number 4, he brings with him experience spanning Bulgaria, Belgium, Greece and Romania, and a cup-winning captaincy.