Dejan Iliev (; born 25 February 1995) is a Macedonian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

club UTA Arad and for the North Macedonia national team.

Career

Early life

Iliev was born in Strumica, Macedonia and first played youth club football for his hometown club of FK Belasica. He was spotted by

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

scouts and signed to join their academy in London in 2012.

Arsenal

Iliev joined the Arsenal Academy immediately upon signing the youth contract. He signed a three-year contract extension from March 2015 until June 2018, when he signed another extension. Iliev appeared three times in the Arsenal squad as an unused substitute: against

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

in the Carabao Cup in October 2017; and twice in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

: against Qarabağ and against Chelsea in the final as the third goalkeeper. Iliev's contract with the club was terminated in January 2022 by mutual consent.

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.

Loan to Jagiellonia Białystok

After an early end to his loan with ŠKF Sereď, Iliev opted to join Polish

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

club Jagiellonia Białystok for the remainder of the 2019–20 season. 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. On 28 January 2021, he returned to Arsenal.

Second loan to Sereď

On 26 July 2021, Arsenal announced that Iliev had returned to ŠKF Sereď on a season-long loan deal.

AS Trenčín

On 7 February 2022, Iliev signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Fortuna Liga club AS Trenčín. He made his debut in goal on 30 April in a 5–2 victory against Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš.

HJK Helsinki

On 8 February 2023, Iliev signed with HJK Helsinki in Finland for the 2023 season, with an option for 2024. 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

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...

match against SJK Seinäjoki. At 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 Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

. At the end of the season, the club decided not to extend Iliev's contract.

UTA Arad

On 18 June 2024, Iliev signed with

club UTA Arad.

International career

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 his debut in 2022.

Career statistics

Honours

Arsenal *

runner-up: 2018–19 HJK *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

* Finnish League Cup: 2023

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iliev, Dejan 1995 births Footballers from Strumica Living people Macedonian men's footballers 21st-century Macedonian sportsmen North Macedonia men's youth international footballers North Macedonia men's under-21 international footballers North Macedonia men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Arsenal F.C. players ŠKF Sereď players Jagiellonia Białystok players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players AS Trenčín players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players FK Sarajevo players FC UTA Arad players Slovak First Football League players Ekstraklasa players English Football League players Veikkausliiga players Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina players Liga I players Macedonian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Romania