Martins signs for Newcastle

Nigeria striker Obafemi Martins has left FC Internazionale Milano for English UEFA Cup contenders Newcastle United FC for a fee of €15m.

Personal terms
Martins has signed a five-year contract with Glenn Roeder's side after agreeing personal terms and passing medical tests. He is expected to watch the second leg of Newcastle's UEFA Cup second qualifying round tie against Latvian team FK Ventspils at St James' Park tonight.

Fruitful search
Newcastle have been eager to find a new forward after Alan Shearer's retirement coincided with a severe knee injury to English international Michael Owen. The 21-year-old Martins, who joined Inter in 2002 and scored 28 goals in 87 Serie A games, had dropped down the pecking order following the arrivals of Hernán Crespo from Chelsea FC and Zlatan Ibrahimović from Juventus.