Soccer-Bulgaria's player of year Despodov joins Cagliari from CSKA

CSKA Sofia's highly-rated winger Kiril Despodov has joined Serie A side Cagliari on a four-and-a-half-year contract, the 31-times Bulgarian champions said on Wednesday. The 22-year-old, who was voted Bulgaria's Footballer of the Year earlier this month, has scored 24 goals in 79 matches in all competitions since joining CSKA from Litex Lovech in 2016.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed but Bulgarian media reported that the 1970 Serie A champions would pay 4.2 million euros ($4.82 million) for Despodov, who has been capped five times by Bulgaria. "Cagliari are a great challenge for me and I'm glad that I became part of the team," said Despodov, adding that he would be officially presented to media on Thursday.

Sardinia-based Cagliari are 14th in Serie A with 21 points from 21 matches. (Reporting by Angel Krasimirov, editing by Pritha Sarkar)