Nigeria striker Obafemi Martins has left Inter Milan for Newcastle United for a fee of €15million, the Premier League club said on their website today.

Martins signed a five-year contract after agreeing personal terms and passing a medical.
   
The player is expected to watch Newcastle in their UEFA Cup second qualification round second leg against Latvia's FK Ventspils at St James' Park tonight.
   
Newcastle have been desperate for a top-drawer striker. Alan Shearer has retired while England forward Michael Owen is not expected back until 2007 after his World Cup knee injury.
   
The 21-year-old Martins, who joined Inter in 2002, is a powerfully built forward who can run at defences.
   
In December last year he extended his Inter contract until 2010 but the close-season acquisitions of Argentina striker Hernan Crespo from Chelsea and Sweden frontman Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Juventus, in the wake of Italy's match-fixing scandal, have pushed him down the pecking order.
   
Martins comes from Lagos and made his way as a teenager to Reggiana in Italy without any time in formal football structures in Nigeria.