Vladimir Gadzhev (; born 18 July 1987) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was known for his goals from long distance.
A product of the Levski Sofia Academy, Gadzhev joined Greek side Panathinaikos in 2004. He had three loan spells away from Panathinaikos. He was loaned to Levadiakos in 2006, OFI in 2007 and Levski in 2008, and signed for Levski on a permanent basis in 2009.
Gadzhev is a product of Levski Sofia's youth academy.
In the summer of 2004, at the age of 17, Gadzhev joined Greek side Panathinaikos but failed to break into the first team and was eventually loaned to Beta Ethniki side Levadiakos for the 2006âÂÂ07 season. He earned 26 appearances for Levadiakos, scored five goals and helping his team gain promotion to the Super League Greece. For the following campaign Gadzhev was loaned out to Super League club OFI, where he made 18 appearances.
On 4 July 2008, Levski signed Gadzhev on a season-long loan deal. He made his Bulgarian A Group debut in a 1âÂÂ0 away loss against Vihren Sandanski on 9 August. He scored his first goal for Levski on 27 August, netting the equalizer in the 1âÂÂ1 away draw against BATE Borisov in the third qualifying round of the 2008âÂÂ09 UEFA Champions League. Gadzhev play regularly in his first season, making 23 league appearances and collected his first A Group title winner's medal at the end of the 2008âÂÂ09 season. On 31 May 2009, in the penultimate game of the campaign against Minyor Pernik, Gadzhev scored his first league goal for Levski, clinching the draw 1âÂÂ1 and the title for the club.
On 7 July 2009, Gadzhev signed a permanent contract with Levski for an undisclosed fee. A week later, he scored his first goal of the 2009âÂÂ10 season, netting the fourth in a 4âÂÂ0 win over Sant Juliàin the 2nd Qualifying round of Champions League at Georgi Asparuhov Stadium. On 1 August, Gadzhev came on as a substitute in the 2009 Bulgarian Supercup against Litex Lovech. Unfortunately at the end of the game he received a very heavy injury. The diagnose was damaged torn knee ligaments. Cause of that he missed the first part of the season. However, in January 2010 it was announced that Gadzhev recovered from his injury. He made his comeback for Levski from a serious knee injury on 16 March 2010, playing for 60 minutes as a captain of the reserves' 2âÂÂ2 draw against Litex Lovech. On 20 March, Gadzhev featured as substitute in Levski's 3âÂÂ0 win over Slavia Sofia in the A Group. On 2 May 2010, he scored the equalizer in a 1âÂÂ1 away draw with Cherno More.
On 28 July 2011, Gadzhev scored the equalizing goal against Spartak Trnava in UEFA Europa League and afterwards Levski won the game with a 2âÂÂ1 final score. On 21 November 2011, he signed a two-year contract extension, keeping him at Levski until 2014.
On 17 March 2013, Gadzhev made his 100th league appearance for Levski in a 0âÂÂ0 draw against Montana.
On 25 September 2013, Gadzhev scored his first brace for the club in a 6âÂÂ0 win over Neftochimic Burgas.
On 23 May 2014, Gadzhev announced that he would leave Levski. On 1 July, however, he re-signed a new one-year contract with Levski. A few days later, Gadzhev was stripped of the captaincy by new manager Pepe Murcia. After the departure of Valeri Bojinov in August, he was again given the captaincy.
On 7 January 2016 he signed a pre-contract with the Russian team FC Kuban Krasnodar, but 2 weeks later his contract was annulled due to the uncertain financial situation at the club.
On 24 March 2016, after a successful trial period, Gadzhev signed a contract with English club Coventry City until June 2017. He scored his first goal for Coventry in a 3-2 EFL Cup win against Portsmouth on 9 August 2016. He was an unused substitute as Coventry won the 2017 EFL Trophy Final.
Gadzhev holds the record for the most red cards in The Eternal Derby of Bulgaria, having been sent off three times, though on two of these occasions it did not affect the proceedings on the pitch, as he was ejected from the bench as well as after the final whistle.
Gadzhev made his international debut on 17 November 2010 in a friendly match against Serbia. Vladimir came in as a substitution in the 65th minute. However, Bulgaria lost the match with a score of 0âÂÂ1. He scored his first goal in a 2âÂÂ1 home win over Belarus national football team, a precise long-distance header.
Following his retirement, in 2024 Gadzhev briefly served as president of Hebar.
Coventry City