Nikolay Svetoslavov Zlatev

Nikolay Zlatev is a product of the Cherno More Varna academy, which he joined in 2008 and worked his way through before making his senior debut on 11 July 2020, coming on as a substitute against Botev Plovdiv in the Bulgarian First League. He was 15 years and seven months old at the time, making him the youngest player ever to appear for the club. He signed his first professional contract with Cherno More on 9 June 2022, having worn the number 39 shirt.

Zlatev's path since that early breakthrough has run through loan spells rather than a settled run in the first team. He spent two seasons out at Cherno More II before moving to Slovenia in 2024, where he joined NK Tabor Sežana for the 2024/25 campaign. In three appearances in the 2. SNL he scored three goals before he returned to Cherno More in December 2024. In 2026 he moved on again, this time to Al Kharitiyat SC in Qatar on loan, with Cherno More coach Ilian Iliev confirming the move included an option to purchase.

Right-footed despite being deployed on either flank, Zlatev has represented Bulgaria at every youth level from the U17s upward. He was capped twice for the U17s in 2020, five times for the U19s in 2022, and has gone on to make over twenty appearances for the U21 side since then. A senior call-up has yet to follow.