It's sad that Markovic is doing so poorly at Sporting, when he was enough of a success to be universally coveted when he was at Benfica.
I hear people say the usual stuff like 'I can see a player there', but I really can't. People appear to do all kinds of mental gymnastics to make an argument why he's not a lost cause, going so far as to describe him as being 'too cerebral to be on the same wavelength as his teammates'.
I'll say this much.. he's not like any other winger I've ever seen. He doesn't take on his man, he doesn't cross, he doesn't make key passes, he doesn't score and and he doesn't assist. Maybe there's some other style of footballer, but that style doesn't appear to be effective, whether it's orthodox or not.
Take a step back from the criticism, I think he's probably a player that requires a lot of nurturing from the right manager in the right team that has the right system to give him time to not only play, but to build his confidence by helping him succeed. He's not a big personality that will thrive anywhere. He needs the perfect environment, and he needs it now, or his career is not going to live up to the promise of its Benfica days.