In June 2008, CSKA was in a deep financial crisis and were forced to sell their key players, including Tunchev.

[3] His season was cut short when he suffered a partial tear of his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during a 2–1 FA Cup replay defeat to Crystal Palace on 14 January 2009.

[15] Suffering several setbacks during rehabilitation, Tunchev flew to Barcelona, Spain in early February 2010 to see the specialist who originally treated his injury problem.

[19] Tunchev made his return against San Jose Earthquakes in a behind-closed-doors friendly on 24 February 2011 at Belvoir Drive.

[20] He finally played his first competitive game since September 2009[21] in a 4–2 win over Watford on 25 April 2011, albeit as a substitute during stoppage time.

After a couple of months of trying to prove his fitness following a further groin injury,[28] Pearson recalled Tunchev to the first team on 2 January 2012 to face the Crystal Palace side he had been on loan with earlier in the season.

[31] In September 2012, Tunchev joined Polish Ekstraklasa side Zagłębie Lubin as defensive cover, following injuries to other players.

[34] In June 2016, Tunchev announced his retirement but was restored as a player by Lokomotiv Plovdiv's manager Eduard Eranosyan in February 2017.

The defender was a regular for the Bulgarian team since making his official debut against Romania in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match.

In November 2014, he was recalled to the national side for a Euro 2016 qualifier against Malta after a long absence from international duty, but remained on the bench.