Nikos Karelis
[4] Karelis soon drew the attention of Premier League club Arsenal, and was invited to London to take part in a ten-day trial.Karelis scored two goals for the Gunners and made a strong impression, helping Arsenal win the cup, beating Juventus in the final on penalties.[7] Karelis featured more in the 2009–10 season, making six appearances, predominantly as cover for veteran strikers Māris Verpakovskis and Sergio Leal.Karelis scored during a friendly game vs. Olympiacos, on 6 September 2009 commemorating Ergotelis' 80th anniversary, netting in the fifth to complete his club's win over the reigning champions in a memorable 5–0 victory.Following Nano, Abdul Jeleel Ajagun and Thanasis Dinas, Nikos Karelis signed a contract on increased terms with Panathinaikos until the summer of 2018.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.[24] 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.[40] 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.[45] On 27 December 2016, he scored with a penalty kick in a 2–0 home win against Gent, but at the very beginning of the second half faced a cruciate ligament rupture that probably kept him out of the team for at least 8 months.On 17 December 2017, in his 7th appearance in the squad, after his injury, scored with the head helping his club to acquire a vital 1–1 away draw against rivals Charleroi.[50] On 17 February 2018, Karelis scored his third of the season for Genk, helping his team claim an entertaining 2–2 draw against Club Brugge in the Jupiler League.In the 11th minute Karelis escaped the attentions of the Brugge defence, calmly slotting beyond opposing goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer into the far left corner.Following a 5-match goalless streak, Karelis broke his duck at home against Chennaiyin FC on 21 December 2024, scoring a composed one-on-one finish into the bottom corner in the eighth minute of the match.His second goal came in the 87th minute following a long pass from Nathan Rodrigues, which East Bengal defender Hijazi Maher was unable to intercept.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 shown in the second as Greece could not hold onto 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.