Well we left it late but we finally got the striker that we all agreed we needed. It’s only a loan deal but I see no reason that it couldn’t become permanent in the summer if we want. Reports suggest that he has failed to settle in Russia and wants to move back to England where he has played before for Newcastle.
So what do we know about Obafemi Martins. He’s 26 years old (Although I thought he was a lot older) and started his professional career with Inter Milan in 2002. He scored 28 goals for Inter before moving to Newcastle United in 2006 where he also scored 28 goals. After three years at Newcastle he spent a short period in Germany before moving to Rubin Kazan. He has been capped 38 times for Nigeria and has a good scoring record for them of almost one in two.
I remember him as a player who was a bit erratic but has pace combined with a powerful shot. One shot against Tottenham was measured at 84mph. It’s a plus that he has played in the Premier League before as it shouldn’t take him long to settle in. It may take him a little time to get up to speed as he has only played 12 times for Kazan this season so we should be patient. He is due to meet up with his team mates on Wednesday or Thursday so should be available for the crucial league games against West Ham, Stoke and Newcastle. It will be interesting to see who he can form a partnership with.
Welcome to Birmingham Obafemi.
Spurs fan here, really like this signing, a real nuisance always did well against us, has unnatural power and pace and a real good shot, he is just what you need because Zigic and Jerome never impress me, both dont look like goalscorers.
Kev
It’s with a view to a permanent 6million euros transfer in the summer apparently…
What do we know about Martins????????????
Unlike the Spurs fan above, I don’t know much about how well, or poorly, he played against other teams. All I know is how he played against us and, whenever he did play against us, he certainly put the sh**s up me.
If he plays half as well for us, as he played played against us, he will be a great signing and will certainly improve our scoring record. Bring him on.
so he was 15 when he made his pro debut? What about his junior years?
26 my elbow!
He’s 27 this October so assuming he started at the beginning of the 02-03 season he would have been nearly 18.
This is a really good signing, and it’s going to be a case of who he plays up front with.
However, having said that we only need to thread a ball through to him from midfield and let him finish it. ;o)
Whenever Jerome has got into those positions his success rate, i.e. goals going one-on-one with the keeper, must be in the region of less than 5%.
Better than Keane? Faster, trickier, younger, and of course cheaper. He also has a much better goal celebration! I’m looking forward to seeing that many times over the next few months and, hopefully, years. (Keane’s litle half-somersault, half-cartwheel with eejit Usain Bolt ending is frankly embarrassing.) Let’s hope Eck can bang some consistency into Martins, who could form a really good partnership with Jerome.
This looks a good signing to me, in several ways – quality and cost in particular. While Zigic seems possibly to have woken up in the last week (in the semi final anyway) he and Jerome have been v poor this season when it comes to putting the ball in the back of the net. Jerome runs his heart out and gets my admiration for it, but seems incapable of scoring. Fingers crossed this guy does the trick. KRO
I think he could be the making of Jerome by taking a lot of the pressure off him. Just look how well Jerome and Chucho played together and Martins is a far better finisher than Chucho. Their pace is sure to frighten a lot of defenders and with Helb and Bentley threading balls through we suddenly have the look of a half decent attacking side.
Great signing, what we’ve always needed speed. Much better then signing Robbie Keane or Kenny Miller by far. Mcleish has made great signings this time round and i think both loaned players should be pernimently signed because David Bentley has already proofed himself from the past weekend with an amazing goal. Scorer and Target man: Oba and Zigic or Speed: Oba and Jerome i dont know we will see soon.