Introduction
Eero Pekka Sakari Markkanen (born 3 July 1991) is a Finnish footballer who plays as a striker for AIK Fotboll and for the Finland national football team. He is the son of former basketball player Pekka Markkanen and the older brother of college basketball player Lauri Markkanen.
Club career
On 23 July 2014, Real Madrid signed Markkanen from AIK on a four-year contract.
Markkanen made his debut for Real Madrid Castilla 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 CF B. However, he missed most of the 2014-2015 season due to an injury.
In September 2014, he was chosen for Real Madrid's 25-man squad for the UEFA Champions League, but did not make any appearances.
On 21 August 2015, Real Madrid Castilla 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".
International career
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.
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.
Club statistics
| Season | Club | Division | League | Cup | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Finland | Division | League | Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
| 2011 | ViPa | Kakkonen | 14 | 9 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 9 | |
| 2012 | Warkaus JK | 12 | 9 | 0 | 0 | — | 12 | 9 | ||
| 2012 | JJK | Veikkausliiga | 13 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 7 |
| 2013 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 5 | — | 18 | 9 | |||
| HJK | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | |||
| Sweden | Division | League | Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
| 2014 | AIK | Allsvenskan | 14 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 6 | |
| Spain | Division | League | Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
| 2014–15 | Real Madrid B | Segunda División B | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 2 | |
| Finland | Division | League | Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
| 2015 | RoPS | Veikkausliiga | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | |
| Sweden | Division | League | Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
| 2016 | AIK | Allsvenskan | 22 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 30 | 10 |
| Career Total | 105 | 47 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 128 | 54 | ||