Bulgarian international defender Valentin Iliev joined Norwich City on trial during January 2008 but Glenn Roeder explained to the Pink Un on 11th January 2008 that it would be unlikely that the CSKA Sofia defender would sign for City:

“He is a decent player but we know he will need a work permit and we are not by any means confident that he would get a work permit because he doesn't come close enough to playing the 75% of full internationals that is required,” explained Roeder. “So it is unlikely to happen, very unlikely to happen, because of that - and that would be the same if he went to any club in England so I am sure he will have to return home.”

Iliev started his career in his home town Vratsa,where he played in the local team Botev. In June 2001 he signed with Ukrainian club Metalurg from Zaporizhzhya. In 3 years Valentin participated in only 21 matches and scored 1 goal. In November 2004 Iliev joined Bulgarian giants CSKA Sofia. He made his international debut in 2005 and had 11 caps at the time of his trial with Norwich.

Iliev moved to Russian side Terek Grozny in 2008. He later signed a one year and a half contract with the Romanian club Universitatea Craiova. In February 2011, Iliev signed a contract for one and a half years with Steaua Bucuresti. On 19th December 2011, Iliev scored his first goal for Steaua against CSU Vointa Sibiu in a Liga 1 match, goal which proved to be decisive

On 12th July 2012, Iliev joined Ukrainian club Volyn Lutsk on a two-year deal.

On 16th July 2013 Valentin Iliev signed a contract with CSKA Sofia and became the club's captain.

In October 2010, after a long absence from the national team, Iliev was recalled to the national side and at the time of writing (October 2013), he had 23 caps for Bulgaria.