Eero Pekka Sakari Markkanen (born 3 July 1991) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Ykkösliiga club PK-35.
He is the son of former basketball player Pekka Markkanen and the older brother of basketball player Lauri Markkanen.
2010
Markkanen made his debut on senior level in Blackbird in season 2010.
2011
For season 2011 he played for Vihtavuoren Pamaus in the Finnish Kakkonen.
2012
In 2012 he returned to JJK and made his Veikkausliiga debut.
2013
In December 2013 it was announced that AIK had signed Markkanen on a 3 year contract.
2014
Markkanen made his international debut for Finland in May 2014, at the age of 22 and has since had over 15 caps, including 6 appearances in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifications.
On 23 July 2014, Real Madrid signed Markkanen from AIK on a four-year contract.
In September 2014, he was chosen for Real Madrid's 25-man squad for the UEFA Champions League, but did not make any appearances.
Markkanen made his debut for Real Madrid's reserve team Real Madrid Castilla in Segunda División B on 24 August 2014, playing the full 90 minutes as they lost 2–1 at Atlético Madrid B in Segunda División B Group 2.
Six days later he scored his first goal for the club, in a 1–2 home loss to Getafe B.
However, he missed most of the 2014-2015 season due to injury.
Markkanen made his full international debut on 29 May 2014, replacing Roman Eremenko at half time in a 1–0 defeat to Lithuania in Ventspils in the Baltic Cup.
On 7 September 2014, he made his first competitive international appearance, replacing Jere Uronen for the last 15 minutes of a 3–1 win over the Faroe Islands in Tórshavn for UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.
2015
On 21 August 2015, Real Madrid released Markkanen.
There were rumours of him reporting back to preseason training overweight, but the club never released an official statement about the issue.
On 3 September 2015, Markkanen was acquired by the Finnish side RoPS for the remainder of the season after failing to sign for AIK who were rejected a request for an exemption to sign him outside of the transfer window by the Swedish Football Association.
On 5 November 2015, he signed a three-year contract with AIK.
He told the club homepage that he was "Very happy to be back at AIK".
2016
After losing his place in the Finland squad during his spell in Real Madrid Castilla he was once again selected by head coach Hasse Backe in August 2016 for games again Germany and Kosovo.
This was after a good summer form with five goals in the last two months for AIK.
He made his FIFA World Cup qualification match debut on 6 October 2016 in a match against Iceland when he entered as a 56th minute substitute for Kasper Hämäläinen.
International goals
HJK Helsinki
PSM Makassar
Orange County SC
2017
On 4 August 2017, Markkanen joined 2. Bundesliga side Dynamo Dresden on loan for the season, while Dynamo Dresden secured an option to sign him permanently.
2018
On 15 January 2018, Markkanen broke his contract with Dynamo Dresden and went on to join Danish Superliga side Randers on loan from AIK for the rest of the 2017-18 season.
He returned to AIK in late June 2018, but left the club by mutual consent on 10 August 2018.
On 10 August 2018, Markkanen signed with Dalkurd in Allsvenskan.
2019
On 14 January 2019 it was announced that Markkanen would join PSM Makassar in Liga 1.
2020
On 7 February 2020 Veikkausliiga side Haka announced that Markkanen would be joining the club on a one-year contract.
On 25 December 2020, it was announced that Markkanen would join USL Championship side Orange County ahead of their 2021 season.
