Naoussa Lakis began his career in
Naoussa playing as a
defender, but his coaches soon switched him to the attacking role more appropriate to his innate talent. His team mates in Naoussa included the future star
Vasilios Tsiartas.
Paniliakos In the summer of 1995, Lakis signed for the professional club
Panileiakos. In the following season, he helped the team to finish seventh in the
Greek League by scoring seven goals.
AEK Athens On 12 June 1998, Lakis was transferred to
AEK Athens for a fee of 320 million
drachmas. There he played alongside
Demis Nikolaidis, Vasilios Tsiartas and
Theodoros Zagorakis. With the yellow-blacks, he won two
Greek Cups, one in 2000 against
Ionikos and the other in 2002 against their rival,
Olympiakos. He was in the squad that reached the Fourth round of the
UEFA Cup in 2002 and was eliminated by the
Inter Milan of
Héctor Raul Cúper. The following season, with the acquisition of
Grigorios Georgatos from Inter Milan, AEK reached the group stage of the
UEFA Champions League, where they were drawn with
Roma and
Real Madrid. The club nearly beat Real Madrid after leading 3–1 and then 3–3 at home in the old stadium
Nikos Goumas Stadium, but AEK Athens took their revenge in Madrid at the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, drawing 2–2.
Crystal Palace On 29 September 2004, after the conquest of
Euro with Greece, Lakis signed as a free agent for
Crystal Palace in the
Premiership. He made 18 league appearances for Palace. He notably missed the goal from 6 yards in the game against Arsenal at Selhurst Park while the score was 1-1. It is likely that Palace would have won the match had he scored. He was also sent off a in a 0–0 draw with
Manchester United. Unfortunately the club was relegated the same year and Lakis decided to return to
Greece and AEK Athens.
Return to AEK Athens Among Lakis's colleagues at AEK were
Traianos Dellas, formerly of Roma, and, as president, Demis Nikolaidis. AEK Athens participated in the
2006–07 UEFA Champions League in the same group as
Milan, which they beat at home 1–0 with a goal scored by
Júlio César. In the summer of 2007, AEK Athens signed the Brazilian
Rivaldo from the Olympiacos and the club reached the top of
Greek Championship with their Piraeus rival. He is a pacy right winger who can also play up front, known for his fast-paced end-to-end style of play. He is renowned in his home country for his habit of missing easy chances but his speed, cutting passes, and incisive runs into the box more than makeup for this failing.
PAOK On 2 July 2007, Lakis was released by AEK. On 3 July he signed a three-year contract with
PAOK, where he was reunited with Zagorakis as the president of the club and
Zisis Vryzas as a player, that they won Euro 2004. Lakis helped his new team to gain the second place in the Greek Championship behind Olympiacos and qualifying PAOK for the
UEFA Intertoto Cup.
Kavala On 1 July 2009, Lakis signed a two-year contract with the football club
Kavala. Here lakis found the goalkeeper
Fanis Katergiannakis that he helped to promote the team in the Super League Greece after ten years. His new club Kavala was the revelation of the Super League fighting for the first six positions and Lakis become one more time one of the most important players with experience. Lakis with Kavala] reached the semifinal of the Greek Cup against
Panionios. In the semifinal Kavala faced
Aris. ==International career==