Nikos Karelis

Ergotelis

Born in Arkalochori, Heraklion, Karelis began playing football at the age of 6, when his father, who was also a footballer, signed him up at the infrastructure segments of Ergotelis. Karelis would already start training with the men's team at the age of 14, and signed his first professional contract with the club at the age of 15. He made his debut on 20 April 2008, during the last fixture (30th) of the 2007–2008 Greek Super League, entering as a second-half substitute (78 minute) in Ergotelis' 2–0 victory over Skoda Xanthi, thus becoming the youngest player to have ever been fielded for Ergotelis in a Superleague match.

Karelis soon drew the attention of Premier League club Arsenal, and was invited to London to take part in a 10-Day trial. He joined Arsenal’s under 16s and traveled with them to Italy to take part in the Atalanta U-16 Cup Tournament. Karelis scored 2 goals for the Gunners and left overall very good impressions after helping Arsenal win the cup, beating Juventus in the final on penalties. Karelis was determined to show his quality to the Gunners, but as he had already signed a new contract with Ergotelis, a possible transfer move to the Premier League side was postponed, and eventually never completed.

In the 2008–09 season, Karelis was sidelined, and thus made only two senior appearances summing up a total of 17 minutes of play. His determination and hard work to earn more playing time however eventually paid off and in August 2009 he was offered a new three-year contract. He received substantially more playing time in the 2009–10 season featuring in a total of 6 fixtures, still coming in as a substitute as the club featured a roster of veteran strikers like Māris Verpakovskis and Sergio Leal. He also scored a goal during a friendly game vs. Olympiacos held on 6 September 2009 commemorating Ergotelis' 80th anniversary, netting in the fifth from close range to complete his club's triumph over the reigning champions in a memorable 5–0 victory.

Karelis had his best season for Ergotelis in the 2010–11 Superleague, where he summed up a total of 13 appearances, two of which as a starter. He also scored his first Superleague goal in the final fixture with a penalty kick in a 4-0 away win vs. Panserraikos. He added another 9 appearances in the 2011–12 season, in which the club was eventually relegated to the Football League. Karelis decided to move on, and despite reported interest from other Superleague clubs, he signed with Russian Premier League side Amkar Perm.

Amkar Perm

On July 2012 he signed with Russian Premier League side Amkar Perm. Karelis spent most of the season playing as a substitute.

Panathinaikos

On 30 July 2013 Karelis signed for Panathinaikos a three-year contract, with Amkar Perm keeping a 20% resale rate. He made his debut with the club on 18 August 2013 in a 2-0 home win against Panetolikos and on 24 November 2013, he scored his first out of two goals with the club in a 3-1 home win against PAS Giannena. On 26 April 2014, he scored the third goal in his first title of his career in a 4-1 win against PAOK in the Greek Cup final. On 15 February 2015 in a match with OFI Crete he scored 2 goals and helped the club win the match with 2-3. After Nano, Abdul Jeleel Ajagun and Thanasis Dinas Nikos Karelis, extended his contract with Panathinaikos until the summer of 2018 with increased earnings and expressed his satisfaction.

The 23-year-old international Greek striker has already scored 16 goals this season, prior to Superleague playoffs(13 in the Superleague, 2 in Europa League and 1 in the Greek Cup) and now Torino and Werder Bremen are ready to make a move for him. Karelis' current contract with Panathinaikos expires in the summer of 2018 and the Greens will probably ask at least €3 million for his transfer. On 31 May 2015, Panathinaikos have turned down a Lille bid for Nikos Karelis in the region of €2,8 million, as they keep asking for around €3,5 million. The name of Panathinaikos's striker is once again on Anderlecht's radar. The Belgium champions were first interested in Karelis when a scouter watched a game between Panathinaikos and Skoda Xanthi. On 21 July 2015, Getafe CF are the latest team to be linked with a possible move of the player during the summer transfer window for a bid of €3.5 million, but a day later Getafe CF technical director Toni Munoz deny Karelis bid,as they cannot afford this transfer financially.

On 28 July 2015, a penalty from Karelis clinched a 2-1 win for Panathinaikos against Club Brugge, in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League of the third qualifying round. He started the 2015-16 season by scoring in a 2-1 away win against Panetolikos. On 28 October 2015, despite Karelis lower productivity in the season, is still attracting K.R.C. Genk's interest, for the upcoming transfer window. Genk tried to lure the Greek striker away from Panathinaikos over the summer but the Greens rejected two bids for his services. He left the club as the first scorer of the first half of the 2015-16 season with 9 goals and 5 assists.

Racing Genk

On 12 January 2016 Nikos Karelis signed a 3,5 years' contract with Racing Genk,whereas Panathinaikos kept a 16% next transfer percentage. He made his debut for the club on 15 January 2016 at home to Waregem, coming on as a 77th-minute substitute for Alejandro Pozuelo and then scoring the winning goal in the 88th minute to give Genk's 10 men a 2-1 victory. The manager of Genk, Peter Maes, after Karelis' superb debut told SDNA news: "We needed a player with Karelis' scoring ability, he proved against Zulte Waregem that he does not need many chances to score. He is fast, strong, clever and despite he had only trained twice with the team, he was ready to play. A quality forward like Nikos can perform in any attacking position, he has the ability to become a starter and make our fans love him. We don't need leaders, but players with teamwork and will to give their best for the team and Karelis is one of them", said the Belgian manager. On 3 February 2016, Karelis scored in the 1-1 draw against Standard Liège but the result was not enough to see them through to the next round of the Belgian Cup. On 13 February 2016, Karelis scored a brace one with a wonderful kick in a 6-1 hammering win against Waasland-Beveren. On 28 February 2016, he opened the score with a penalty kick in a 3-2 home win against Club Brugge KV. On 5 March 2016, he opened the score after an assist from Alejandro Pozuelo in a 2-1 away loss against Standard Liège. On 1 May 2016, he scored the only goal as a substitute, in a 3-1 away loss against Club Brugge KV. On the last home game for the season, he scored the last goal as a substitute in a hammering 5-2 victory against rivals R.S.C. Anderlecht for the play offs. On 29 May 2015 in the last game of Play-offs Finals against R. Charleroi S.C. he scored a hat-trick, his first in the season, helping his club to win the exit to next Europa League' season, arrived at 10 goals in his first season in Belgian Pro League.

In his first match for the 2016-17 season he opened the score after an excellent cooperation between Wilfred Ndidi and Sandy Walsh in a 2-1 home win against K.V. Oostende. On 21 September 2016, Karelis scored four times (14', 22', 45+1', 50') in his team's 4-0 away victory against Aalst for the Belgian Cup. On 29 September 2016, he scored his first international goal for the season when he opened the score in a 3-1 home Europa League Group stage match against Italian club U.S. Sassuolo Calcio. On 2 October 2016, he equalised with a penalty kick the score in a 2-1 home win against KV Mechelen. On 15 October 2016, he netted both goals against Mouscron, helping his club to escape with a valuable 2-2 away draw. On 23 October 2016, he netted the only goal helping his club to acquire a valuable win against Sint-Truidense V.V. for the Belgian Pro League. On 26 October 2016, a lackluster start by the home side Charleroi was punished after four minutes as Genk's Mbwana Samatta headed a corner towards the far post and there Karelis surprised everyone with his seventh goal of the season, opening the score in a 2-1 away loss. On 29 October 2016, he scored his second goal in a Pro League 2-1 home game against K.V.C. Westerlo, extended his run of scoring to a record of 5 matches, became the League top goalscorer so far. On 24 November 2016, in a UEFA Europa League group stage home match against Rapid Wien he fired in Genk's early winner from close range after Leon Bailey's header hits the bar, being the MVP of the match. On 14 December 2016, he scored three goals in a overtime win against Charleroi helping Genk advance to the semi-finals of the Belgian Cup. On 27 December 2016, he scored with a penalty kick in a 2-0 home win against K.A.A. Gent, but at the very beginning of the second half faced a cruciate ligament rupture that probably kept him out of the team for 8 months.Karelis was injured early in the second half on a play that did not involve a foul or even a challenge. Karelis was simply dribbling the ball as fell hard on his left knee, causing the ACL rupture.

International career

Karelis has represented Greece with the youth teams.

In his full international debut with the Greek national team he scored against Finland in Helsinki during the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying. In that 1-1 away draw, the risk that Greece coach Claudio Ranieri took by introducing a previously unseen forward lineup (Charalampos Mavrias, Nikos Karelis and Stefanos Athanasiadis) seemed to pay off in the first half, but the lack of experience told in the second as the Greeks could not hold on to their lead and risked losing all three points, besides the fact that with 24 minutes on the clock the ball fell to Karelis who unleashed a swerving shot from the left that swung its way to the left corner of the Finnish goal for 1-0.

Honours

Career statistics

As of 27 December 2016

(* includes Europa League, Champions League) (** includes Greek Playoffs)

International

International goals