On leaving Pittodrie Markus was heavily linked with a move to Greek giants Olympiakos, but a change of management for the Greek club saw him make the move to England and to Kenilworth Road. He also turned down a move to Doncaster Rovers to join the Hatters, deciding not to join former Aberdeen team mate Phil McGuire who had gone to Belle Vue earlier that week.

Markus began his career with Finnish side OPS in 1996, scoring 5 goals in 24 appearances before moving to TPS in 1997-98, where he continued to establish himself as a first-team regular, making 22 League appearances. After just two seasons with TPS, he switched to MyPa, where he enjoyed a further two seasons, scoring once in 43 League appearances before joining Finnish giants HJK Helsinki.

He made 85 League appearances, scoring one goal in three seasons with HJK Helsinki and during his time with the Finnish side, he played UEFA Cup football against Scottish giants Celtic and against Italian side Parma. He was also by now a recognised full Finland international.

In January 2003, Markus made the move to England, joining Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth on a three-month loan deal. However, after just two substitute League appearances at Fratton Park in which Pompey thumped Derby County 6-2 and Coventry City 4-0, he returned to his native Finland at the end of the 2002-03 season.

However, he then had a successful trial spell with Aberdeen and he made the move permanent in August 2003. He went on to make 68 League appearances in two seasons for the Dons, scoring 2 goals.

On signing for Luton Town, Markus said, “I had spent a spell in England with Portsmouth and I wanted to have a second crack at English football.

"I had some offers from Scandinavia but I wanted to come back to England because with Portsmouth, I didn't have many opportunities to play, so I am hoping to show people what I am capable of."

Markus becomes the second Finland international to play for Luton Town in the last four years after former boss Ricky Hill signed full-back Petri Helin, who has since returned to his native Finland.

Looking likely to move to either Olympiakos or Doncaster Rovers at the end of the 2004-05 season, Markus opted instead to join Luton Town and the Finnish international was hoping he could help the Hatters consolidate their place in the Championship during their first campaign in the Division following a 10-year spell in the bottom two Divisions of the Football League.

Markus had a sensational first season with Luton Town that saw him earn a whole host of awards come the end of the 2005-06 season.

He was thrown straight into the side on the opening day of the season at recently relegated Premiership outfit Crystal Palace following an injury during the warm-up to central defender Chris Coyne. Partnering young starlet Curtis Davies in the heart of the Hatters defence, Markus gave a tremendous performance to help Luton to a 2-1 victory – and he kept England international striker Andrew Johnson quiet all afternoon.

He was a regular in the side thereafter, and following Davies’ £3 million transfer to West Bromwich Albion in August 2005, Markus and Chris Coyne became manager Mike Newell’s preferred central defensive duo. One of the first names on the team sheet when available for selection, Markus became an extremely popular figure with the Hatters fans. Making 39 League appearances during the course of the season, Markus netted two goals – both headers – in 2-0 home victories over Crystal Palace and Queen’s Park Rangers.

A revelation in Luton Town’s excellent first season in Championship football, Markus continued to add to his international caps with Finland, including 4 World Cup Qualifier appearances against Macedonia, Romania and the Czech Republic, partnering Liverpool star Sami Hyypia in Finland’s rearguard.

Markus was rewarded for his outstanding campaign with no less than four awards – the Player of the Year trophy, Players’ Player of the Season, Internet Player of the Season and the Luton News Player of the Season.

Having been such a revelation during his first season at Kenilworth Road, Markus was rather disappointing in his second – and ultimately final season as a Luton Town player.

After sweeping the Player Of The Year awards the precious season, it was expected that Markus would again flourish for the Hatters and help the side push for a play-off place in the Championship table. However, after helping Luton make a solid start to the campaign, Markus’ form, along with the entire squad, dropped dramatically in November 2007.

He had scored in a 5-1 home win over Leeds United late October 2006 but this excellent result seemed to spark a dip in form for both Markus and his team mates and the Hatters endured an awful run of results that saw Markus on the losing side for five consecutive matches. Two home wins over Preston North End and Coventry City in December appeared to have stopped the rot, but a dreadful run of results that culminated in manager Mike Newell being sacked all but condemned Luton to relegation to League One.

Markus was now, unfortunately, beginning to get criticism from certain sections of the Hatters supporters, who questioned his commitment as he repeatedly refused to sign a new contract that had been offered to him. With Markus quite clearly allowing his deal to run out and thus allowing him to leave at the end of the season under freedom of contract, new Luton boss Kevin Blackwell was preparing for Markus’ departure before the season had even finished.

Appearing 37 times in the League for the Hatters, Markus continued to earn international honours for Finland, making 5 UEFA 2008 European Championship Qualifying appearances, which included an excellent 3-1 win at Poland and 1-1 draw with Portugal.

As expected, Markus left Luton Town at the end of the 2006-07 season after a total of 76 League appearances and 3 goals for the Hatters.

Upon leaving Kenilworth Road, Markus said, "There were a few reasons why I decided to leave, but the lack of ambition was one of them.

"In any squad you have to have the right balance of youth and experience, but we sold all of our top players and we had to rely on a lot of youngsters as we didn't really have any experience left."