Krisztián Németh (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈkristiaːn ˈneːmɛt]; born 5 January 1989) is a Hungarian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Hungarian club MTK Budapest.
Born in Győr, Németh started his career at hometown club ETO Győr where he played from 2003 to 2005 as a youth player.
In 2005, he signed for MTK Hungária, with whom he scored 18 goals in 37 league games and helped the club to finish as runners-up in the Hungarian National Championship I in 2006–07.
He signed a three-year contract with Liverpool, alongside András Simon in the summer of 2007. He was regarded by the club as an upcoming talent and had been tipped for a bright future at the Merseyside club, who stated on their official site that "big things are expected of Németh." Though he is mostly used as a striker, he often drops into a deeper position during games, where he is able to take advantage of the additional space to make his trademark backheel passes.
Németh scored twice on his debut for Liverpool Reserves on 27 November 2007 against Manchester City. A week later, he scored twice in a 3–0 win against Everton Reserves at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. He scored a fifth goal in three games against Middlesbrough Reserves sending Liverpool to the top of the Premier Reserve League North. He later started for the reserves against Sunderland Reserves and lobbed the keeper giving Liverpool the win and sending them five points clear at the top of the league.
In April 2008, Németh scored the only goal of the game against Blackburn Rovers Reserves which secured the Premier Reserve League North title. On 7 May, he scored the first goal as the Reserves beat Aston Villa reserves 3–0 at Anfield to clinch the Premier Reserve League national title. He was the Premier Reserve League North Top scorer in the 2007–08 season. His impressive displays in the latter half of the season earned him recognition as Liverpool Fans' Reserves Player of the Year for the 2007–08 season.
On 30 July Nemeth was a second-half substitute in Liverpool's pre-season friendly against Villarreal where he almost gave Liverpool the lead but the shot went just over the crossbar. On 2 August Nemeth was introduced as a second-half substitute in another pre-season friendly against Rangers. His shot was saved on 58 minutes but tapped in by Yossi Benayoun. Then on 70 minutes he was fouled in the penalty area and Xabi Alonso scored the resulting penalty.
Németh was handed the number 29 shirt for the 2008–09 season, previously he had no official first team number.
On 26 January 2009, he signed for Championship club Blackpool in a one-month loan deal. A day later, he made his debut for the Seasiders as a 59th-minute substitute at Bloomfield Road, creating their best chance by teeing up David Fox. Blackpool lost 3–0, and it was discovered afterwards that he had fractured his cheek bone when he clashed with a QPR defender just 60 seconds into his debut.
Németh was one of several reserve players brought along for the pre-season friendlies, where he started the games against St Gallen, Rapid Vienna and Thailand. He then scored a brace against Singapore in a 5–0 victory.
Due to injuries, Németh was not able to fulfil his potential at Liverpool, and subsequently moved to Olympiacos on a permanent deal following his loan spell at AEK Athens.
It was announced by Liverpool on 25 August 2009 that he would spend the 2009–10 season on loan to AEK Athens. After visiting AEK for the first time, he said he is looking forward to the challenge saying "I am coming to a big club and a great city." He then laid out his ambitions stating "I hope we can win the championship." On 30 August, he made his debut coming on as a first-half substitute against Atromitos. He assisted Ismael Blanco for the only goal of the game with a great run, and was a constant threat to the Atromitos defence throughout. As a result of this, he was voted the MVP in the Super Liga for that week.
On 20 September, he scored his first goal for AEK, netting in a 1–1 draw with PAS Giannina. Later that week on 23 September, he scored another goal in a 1–2 defeat to fierce rivals Olympiacos
Upon returning from the FIFA U-20 World Cup, he featured in every match before the international break, most notably the 3–1 victory against AEL on 9 November where he scored a header after being introduced as a half time substitute.
As the season entered 2010, Nemeth struggled with an ankle injury picked up on international duty. This forced him out of several months, as he returned only for the last few games of the season, where he appeared mainly as a substitute. In the final game of the regular season against Asteras Tripolis, he provided both assists in a 2–0 home win, ensuring AEK went into the play-offs as the third placed team. Throughout the season Nemeth produced more assists than goals, meaning his contribution to AEK was still important, and helped them secure second place in the play-offs.
On 19 August 2010, Olympiacos F.C. announced that they had concluded a deal with Liverpool to sign Németh on a 3-year deal. The fee was originally m, but later the fee was reduced to m. There is a clause in his Olympiacos contract that states Liverpool are due 25% of any future sale of the player by Olympiacos F.C. The deal was confirmed by Olympiacos F.C. on 23 August. Németh never made a competitive first-team appearance for Liverpool, despite playing for them in pre-season. On 3 November, Németh made his debut for Olympiacos, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 win against Ilioupoli F.C. in a Greek Cup tie. 3 days later on the 6th, Nemeth made his League debut for Olympiacos, assisting Marko Pantelić for the 4th goal within minutes of coming on in a 5–0 thrashing of Panionios.
On 2 September 2011, he terminated his contract with Olympiacos.
On 28 January, he joined Olympiacos Volos on a 6-month loan. Németh scored his only goal for Olympiacos Volos against Panserraikos in a 3–0 home win. Finally, his team won the match by 3–0. At the end of the championship Németh returned to Olympiacos Piraeus and in the summer of 2011 he ended his contract with the Greek club.