Aleksandar Lyubomirov Kolev

Aleksandar Kolev was born in Turnhout, Belgium, and it was there, not in Bulgaria, that his career began to take shape. He started out in the Levski Sofia youth system before moving to Belgium at the age of 15 to join Dessel Sport, where he made his senior debut and went on to score five goals in 63 appearances. A move to AS Verbroedering Geel followed, and in August 2014 he signed for Botev Plovdiv, a spell disrupted by a red card in the Bulgarian Supercup and then by a serious injury that November which kept him out for six months.

The following years took him across Poland, with spells at Stal Mielec, Sandecja Nowy Sącz, Arka Gdynia and Raków Częstochowa; he won the Polish Super Cup with Arka Gdynia in 2018. A year in Kazakhstan with Kaisar and a return to Stal Mielec came before he settled back in Bulgaria. His best individual campaign came at Krumovgrad in 2023–24, when he finished as the Bulgarian First League's top scorer with 15 goals, a season that earned him a €50,000 move to Levski Sofia in July 2024.

Kolev made his senior debut for Bulgaria in November 2023 and has since won 15 caps, scoring twice, including a goal against Cyprus in a friendly in June 2025. He had earlier represented the Bulgaria under-21 side, scoring five goals in ten appearances. After a season in China with Nantong Zhiyun, he joined Cherno More Varna on a free transfer, signing a contract until 2028.