 After spending the first three years of his career in his home town with Maritsa, Nikolov relocated to Sofia in June 1997, signing a five-year contract with Levski, with whom he was Champion of Bulgaria two times (2000, 2001) and won Bulgarian Cup in 1998 and 2000.In January 2002, Slavia Sofia signed Nikolov to a four-year deal.In Slavia he earned 68 appearances playing in the A PFG and scored five goals, before moving to PFC Turan Tovuz in Azerbaijan, where he has established himself as one of the best players in the country.