Karel Geraerts (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkaːrəl ˈɣeːraːrts]; born 5 January 1982) is a Belgian former footballer and head coach, most recently at Schalke 04.

In the summer of 2004, Standard Liège signed the then 22-year-old midfielder, putting him into a strong Rouches squad alongside Sérgio Conceição, Vedran Runje, Mohammed Tchité, Oguchi Onyewu and Ivica Dragutinović.

[1] After three seasons at Den Dreef, it was announced in June 2014 that Geraerts would be allowed to leave OHL as a free agent, having served his full three-year contract.

Having been unable to find a club during the summer, Charleroi gave the contractless Geraerts a one-year deal on the final day of the transfer window in August.

The ex-Red Devil became an important pawn in the midfield at Charleroi under up-and-coming coach Felice Mazzu, helping the Carolos win a place in the title play-offs with the Mambourg club.

After a two-year spell as technical co-ordinator at Oostende, Geraerts became assistant coach at Union SG in 2019, culminating in promotion to the top flight of the Belgian Pro League after 48 years away in 2021.

After leading the league for exactly 200 days, Union lost back-to-back play-off games against Club Brugge to finish second behind the Bruges side in the 2021-22 title race.

However, a poor start to the following season saw Schalke win only four points from their first five games, and when a 3-0 lead over Darmstadt turned into a 5-3 home loss, Geraerts and sporting director Marc Wilmots were dismissed on 21 September 2024.