Early years Kanakis started football at Elpida Kavalas and continued at
AE Kavalas, competing in the defensive line. In 1949, he was transferred to
AEK Athens following the suggestion of the manager,
Kostas Negrepontis.
AEK Athens At AEK, he was relocated in the position of the wide midfielder. After the retirement of club's star player,
Kleanthis Maropoulos and the departure of
Poulis, Kanakis became the team's captain. He was one of the team's leading players in the first half of the 1950s and with the arrival of
Kostas Nestoridis in 1955, they formed an amazing offensive duo. On 24 June 1956, he won the
Cup with AEK, scoring the winner with a power shot in the final 2–1 against
Olympiacos. On 25 October 1959, he scored in the 3rd minute in the away match against
Ethnikos Piraeus and became the first player in the history of Greek football who scored in the newly formed
first national division. He managed to compete in 6 times in that season's championship scoring 2 goals. In the second round match against Ethnikos Piraeus at the
Nea Filadelfeia Stadium, he was honored for his presence, before retiring as a footballer, passing on the captainancy of the team to
Andreas Stamatiadis. With AEK he won 2 Cups and a
Athens FCA League in 1950. ==International career==