Dejan_Iliev
Dejan Iliev
Macedonian footballer
Dejan Iliev (Macedonian: Дејан Илиев; born 25 February 1995) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bosnian Premier League club Sarajevo.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name |
Dejan Iliev Дејан Илиев | ||
| Date of birth | (1995-02-25) 25 February 1995 (age 29)[1] | ||
| Place of birth |
Strumica, Macedonia (now North Macedonia) | ||
| Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper[3] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Sarajevo | ||
| Number | 1 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2012 | Belasica | ||
| 2012–2019 | Arsenal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2022 | Arsenal | 0 | (0) |
| 2019 | → Sereď (loan) | 18 | (0) |
| 2020 | → Jagiellonia Białystok (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | → Shrewsbury Town (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2021 | → Orion Tip Sereď (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2022 | AS Trenčín | 3 | (0) |
| 2023 | HJK Helsinki | 8 | (0) |
| 2024– | Sarajevo | 5 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2012 | Macedonia U19 | 5 | (0) |
| 2013–2015 | Macedonia U21 | 5 | (0) |
| 2022– | North Macedonia | 1 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 April 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 June 2022 | |||
Early life
Iliev was born in Strumica, Macedonia[3] and first played youth club football for his hometown club of FK Belasica. He was spotted by Arsenal scouts and signed to join their academy in London in 2012.[4]
Arsenal
Iliev joined the Arsenal Academy immediately upon signing the youth contract.[4] He signed a three-year contract extension from March 2015 until June 2018,[5] when he signed another extension.[6] Iliev appeared three times in the Arsenal squad as an unused substitute: against Norwich in the Carabao Cup in October 2017; and twice in the UEFA Europa League: against Qarabağ and against Chelsea in the final as the third goalkeeper.[7][8][9]
Iliev's contract with the club was terminated in January 2022 by mutual consent.[10][11]
Loan to Sereď
In July 2019, he moved to ŠKF Sereď for a one-year loan, and on the 22nd of the same month he made his debut for his new club in the 2–0 loss to Spartak Trnava.[12][13][14]
Loan to Jagiellonia Białystok
After an early end to his loan with ŠKF Sereď, Iliev opted to join Polish Ekstraklasa club Jagiellonia Białystok for the remainder of the 2019–20 season.[15] He made four appearances after suffering an injury.
Loan to Shrewsbury Town
On 8 October 2020, Iliev joined League One side Shrewsbury Town on a short-term loan deal.[16] On 28 January 2021, he returned to Arsenal.[17]
Second loan to Sereď
On 26 July 2021, Arsenal announced that Iliev had returned to ŠKF Sereď on a season-long loan deal.[18]
AS Trenčín
On 7 February 2022, Iliev signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Fortuna Liga club AS Trenčín.[19] He made his debut in goal on 30 April in a 5–2 victory against Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš.[20]
HJK Helsinki
On 8 February 2023, Iliev signed with HJK in Finland for the 2023 season, with an option for 2024.[21] On 1 August 2023, it was announced that Iliev will be ruled out for the rest of the season following an elbow injury suffered in a match against SJK.[22] In the end of the season, HJK did not exercise their option and Iliev was released.
Sarajevo
In December 2023, Iliev signed with Bosnian Premier League club Sarajevo.[23][24]
Iliev has appeared for Macedonia's under-19 and under-21 teams a total of ten times. He has been called up to the senior squad and made the bench ten times.[citation needed]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[lower-alpha 1] | League cup[lower-alpha 2] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Arsenal | 2017–18 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018–19 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2019–20 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2020–21 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Arsenal U21 | 2018–19 | — | — | — | — | — | 4[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Sereď (loan) | 2019–20 | Fortuna Liga | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 18 | 0 | |||
| Jagiellonia Białystok (loan) | 2019–20 | Ekstraklasa | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| Shrewsbury Town (loan) | 2020–21 | League One | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Orion Tip Sereď (loan) | 2021–22 | Fortuna Liga | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| AS Trenčín | 2021–22 | Fortuna Liga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23 | Fortuna Liga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||||
| HJK Helsinki | 2023 | Veikkausliiga | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 5] | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | |
| Sarajevo | 2023–24 | Bosnian Premier League | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 50 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 62 | 0 | ||
- Includes FA Cup, Slovak Cup, Polish Cup, Finnish Cup, Bosnia and Herzegovina Cup
- Includes EFL Cup, Finnish League Cup
- Appearances in EFL Trophy
- Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
Arsenal
- UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2018–19[27]
HJK
- Veikkausliiga: 2023
- Finnish League Cup: 2023
- "Deyan Iliev: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
- "Dejan Iliev: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- "Dejan Iliev: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
- "'I'm in a place everyone wants to be'". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
- "Deyan Iliev signs new contract". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
- "Deyan Iliev signs contract extension". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
- "Arsenal 2-1 Norwich City". 24 October 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- "Europa League: Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny returns in easy 1-0 win over Qarabag". 13 December 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- "Chelsea beat Arsenal 4-1 to win Europa League final". 29 May 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- Malley, Tom (8 January 2022). "Premier League done deals in January window so far". mirror. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- "Deyan Iliev leaves club". Arsenal.com. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- "V 1. kole Fortuna ligy prehra v Trnave". skficlinicsered.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 22 July 2019.
- "Деби со пораз за Војнески и Илиев во словачки Серед". gol.mk (in Macedonian). 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
- "Macedonian internationals performances (19-22.07.2019)". www.macedonianfootball.com. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
- "Iliev agrees to join Jagiellonia Bialystok on loan". Arsenal F.C. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- "Dejan Iliev: Shrewsbury sign Arsenal goalkeeper on loan". BBC Sport. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
- "Deyan Iliev departs Town". Shrewsbury Town FC. 28 January 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
- "Deyan Iliev joins SKF Sered on loan for 2021-22". Arsenal F.C. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- "A-tím | Iliev prichádza zvýšiť konkurenciu medzi brankármi". AS Trenčín (in Slovak). 7 February 2022. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- "VIDEO: Trenčín si doma zgustol na Lipt. Mikuláši. Hetrikom sa blysol srbský mladík | TVNOVINY.sk". TVNoviny (in Czech). 30 April 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- "Dejan Iliev HJK:n maalille" [Dejan Iliev for HJK's goal] (in Finnish). HJK. 8 February 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
- HJK:n maalivahti Dejan Iliev joutuu leikkaukseen – sivussa loppukauden, Yle, Juuso Koskinen, 1 August 2023
- Dejan Iliev novi golman FK Sarajevo, faktor.ba, 12 December 2023
- Macedonian national goalkeeper Iliev is linked with a transfer to FC Sarajevo?!, slobodenpecat.mk, 9 December 2023
- Dejan Iliev at Soccerway
- Deyan Iliev at Soccerbase
- "2018/19, Final: Chelsea 4–1 Arsenal: Overview". UEFA. Retrieved 4 June 2020.