Litex Zhelev joined
Litex Lovech quite young but fought hard to get a place in the first team. He formed a formidable duet with ex-Bulgarian national defender
Rosen Kirilov. However, due to a lack of strikers Zhelev was also used by managers to play as a striker for Litex and scored a lot of goals in this position. He is the defender who has scored the most goals in the whole history of Bulgarian football. He has been considered one of the favourite players by Litex fans, due to his dedicated and selfless manner of playing, and his loyalty to the club. He has been awarded the title "The best player of Litex" in 2006.
Oţelul On 12 July 2007, Zhelev joined Romanian club
Oţelul Galaţi for a fee of €125,000 On 8 November 2009, after a game against
FC Timişoara, he and his teammate
Stoyan Kolev decided to leave
Oţelul because of the financial situation of the club.
Steaua On 5 January 2010, Steaua and Oţelul agree Zhelev and
Ochiroşii swap deal. On 10 January 2010, Steaua signed the Bulgarian centre-back on a free transfer until June 2011. First match in Liga I for Steaua: 20 February 2010 • Steaua-
Ceahlăul 1–3. First goal in Liga I for Steaua: 25 April 2010 • Steaua-
FC Timişoara 3–3. In June 2010, Steaua has terminated the contract with Zhelev.
Inter Baku On 25 June 2010, Zhelev signed a one-year deal with the Azerbaijani football club
Inter Baku. Thus, he joins compatriot
Petar Zlatinov in the club squad.
Slavia Sofia At the end of the 2010–11 season, Zhelev returned to Bulgaria and joined
Slavia Sofia on a free transfer. He made his comeback league debut at the start of the 2011–12 season in a 1–0 defeat to
Levski Sofia on 8 August. Zhelev was frozen out of the first team in October 2013 (after
Asen Bukarev had been replaced as coach) and in December 2013 joined
Vereya Stara Zagora in the third division of Bulgarian football.
Vereya Stara Zagora In March 2015, Zhelev took over from
Radostin Kishishev as head coach of
Vereya Stara Zagora. However, his assistant Vladislav Yanush was officially registered as the manager, as Zhelev had not yet obtained the coaching license to manage in the
B PFG.
Belasitsa In September 2025, he took over as manager of relegation-threatened
Second League club
Belasitsa Petrich.{{cite web ==Honours==