Though still revered as an Olympiacos legend, he is also well remembered for his switch to arch-rivals Panathinaikos F.C., for the last three years of his playing career, which ended prematurely, when he decided to retire at the age of 29.
The 18-year-old forward instantly became a regular and a star a few weeks later, after an excellent display against local rivals Ethnikos, where he scored two goals and was hailed as the new Olympiacos leader.
It also saw the start of his love-hate relationship with the club board, part of which was appointed (as for all teams) by the military regime in power during this troubled period for Greece.
He was later stripped of the captaincy, only to return after apologising to the chairman Nikolaos Goulandris (who was said to adore him), to a series of impressive performances which ended the year in success and a double for Olympiacos.
The 1973-74 season was remembered for his catalytic performance in the side's largest ever win against Fostiras with 11-0, and the recapturing of the Championship with a record number of points and goals.
While the following season he regained the captaincy and played an important part over the two legs, in the historic aggregate win[broken anchor] over Celtic F.C.
He also impressed at the international level excelling against West Germany, while enthusiastic reporters hailed him as the only man to dribble Beckenbauer, who later acknowledged his talent.
On 26/3/75 Delikaris featured in a World's Best XI alongside other legends such as Johan Cruyff, Pele, Jairzinho and his teammate in Olympiacos Milton Viera against R.S.C.
One of his rare moments of glory at Panathinaikos saw him score a spectacular goal against Italian giants Juventus FC[2][4] On October 19, 1981 Delikaris retired from professional football for reasons unknown to this day.
It is known that he has faced serious financial strife at times and has been involved in the auto-trade business, had lost a large amount of money in the collapse of the Albanian economy in 1997, was the co-owner of a restaurant in his hometown neighborhood and was rumored as of 2009 to be a taxi-driver (though this has been denied by family members).
[2][4][5] Delikaris reemerged in the spotlight after a number of years giving an informal interview to Greek newspaper Ta Nea (August 25, 1997).
Amongst other things Delikaris admitted that it was a mistake to join Panathinaikos and that he was driven by certain enemies within Olympiacos to leave his favorite club, but refused to elaborate.
He later attended an event (November 13, 2005) in his honor at the Olympiacos home ground merchandise store, during which he publicly apologised for moving to Panathinaikos.