CSKA Volleyball held its first training session for the new season in the "4th Kilometer" hall. Aleksandar Popov is already counting on all three foreign players – Spanish setter Vicente Monfort Minaya, Iranian outside hitter Mohammadreza Beik, and Australian opposite Hameish Hazeldine, whose recruitment was first reported byvolleyweek.bg.

There are still some issues with the Iranian player's documents, but the club is optimistic that these obstacles will be overcome by the start of the season.

Along with the "Army men," two former "Reds" also trained in the hall to maintain their form – Branimir Grozdanov, who is still without a club,

as well as national team player Dimitar Dimitrov, who was left out of Gianlorenzo Blengini's squad for the World Championship in Manila.

Martin Bozhilov, who retired from the national team after the end of the NVSL, also appeared in the "Vasil Simov" hall for the first time. He was joined by another new addition, Teodor Todorov, who is once again donning the red jersey.

The world's sixth-ranked U19 libero, Daniel Tikholov, also came to the hall, but he did not participate in the training sessions.

The training continued with ball exercises, and several friendly matches are scheduled by the end of the month – the first ones will be against Montana and Pirin.

The Guinness World Record candidate for the longest competitive career, Ivaylo Stefanov, also entered the hall with a dignified stride. The veteran, born in 1973, appeared in a jersey with his birth year printed on it. "Matey Kaziyski and I are almost contemporaries – he's from 1984, I'm 11 years older (laughs). We'll have a derby of the generations," joked Stefanov after realizing he might play against the volleyball legend who signed a contract with Lokomotiv Avia today.

Here are the players Aleksandar Popov will rely on for the 2025/26 season:

photos: Nikolay Varadinov