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Seattle Sounders FC has been recently linked to a number of current and former stars playing in Spain. The latest is Obafemi Martins, who made a name for himself playing for Inter Milan and Newcastle United, as well as the Nigerian national team.
Seattle Sounders in hunt for Nigerian forward Obafemi Martins? Just a little somethin' I heard today. Thoughts? #mls
— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) February 19, 2013
Along with his boatload of goals in Italy (49 in 137 games at Inter and Reggiana) and England (37 in 110 appearances for Newcastle and Birmingham City), Martins is known for his acrobatic goalscoring celebration:
If leaving England for the German Bundesliga, Russian Premier League and Spanish La Liga can be called a decline, then Martins hasn’t been in top form since 2009. Indeed, a stress fracture in his leg in 2011 slowed him down considerably, but that came after he scored the Carling Cup-winning goal for Birmingham while on loan from Rubin Kazan.
So far in the 2012-2013 season, Martins has seven league goals. That's tied for seventh in the league, in a spot that also holds Malaga’s Javier Saviola, another forward that has been linked with the Sounders recently.