Dejan Iliev (Macedonian: Дејан Илиев; born 25 February 1995) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for AS Trenčín.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name |
Dejan Iliev Дејан Илиев | ||
| Date of birth | (1995-02-25) 25 February 1995 (age 27)[1] | ||
| Place of birth |
Strumica, Macedonia (now North Macedonia) | ||
| Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper[3] | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | AS Trenčín | ||
| Number | 1 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2012 | Belasica | ||
| 2012–2019 | Arsenal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2022 | Arsenal | 0 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | → 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 | 6 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 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 20:27, 12 June 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 June 2022 | |||
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]
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]
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]
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.
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]
On 26 July 2021, Arsenal announced that Iliev had returned to ŠKF Sereď on a season-long loan deal.[18]
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]
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 | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Arsenal | 2017–18[21] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018–19[21] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2019–20[21] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2020–21[21] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Arsenal U21s | 2018–19 EFL Trophy[22] | — | — | — | 4[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Sereď (loan) | 2019–20[21] | Fortuna Liga | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 0 | ||
| Jagiellonia Białystok (loan) | 2019–20[23] | Ekstraklasa | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| Shrewsbury Town (loan) | 2020–21[24] | League One | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Orion Tip Sereď (loan) | 2021–22[21] | Fortuna Liga | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 33 | 0 | ||
Arsenal
AS Trenčín – current squad | |
|---|---|