Arsenal have confirmed that Dejan Iliev has left the club on loan although it seems like he won’t be coming back.

Dejan Iliev in training with Arsenal (Photo via James Hillson on Instagram)
Dejan Iliev in training with Arsenal (Photo via James Hillson on Instagram)

Dejan Iliev looks like he has finally come to the end of his time as an Arsenal player, as the club confirm he will see out the final year of his contract on loan with SKF Sered, where he spent part of the 19/20 season.

The 26-year-old signed for Arsenal in 2012, but has never made a single appearance for the first team, which is surprising when you think about Alex Runarsson.

Iliev returned to Arsenal in January after his short-term loan with Shrewsbury Town. The North Macedonian made three appearances and kept one clean sheet for the League One side.

Initially, things started well with Iliev keeping that one clean sheet on his debut. However, a slightly shaky follow-up game in a 1-0 defeat to Bristol Rovers saw him out of the side for the following month.

Iliev had injury problems of his own, missing a few games in late October for that reason, but he was largely fit and available for the last couple of months of his loan but was just not selected.

He’s homegrown and could act as the club’s third-choice goalkeeper if they had wanted to loan Runarsson and don’t feel the youth options are ready. It seems they’d rather ship Iliev off, instead.