Obafemi Martins

Obafemi Martins Biography / Profile

Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins was born on October 28, 1984 in Lagos, Nigeria. He is a professional footballer who plays for Shanghai Greenland Shenhua of China. Known for his speed on the ball and lethal proficiency in front of goal, he was nicknamed Obagoal (the king of goal).

Obafemi Martins Age

Obafemi Martins is 39 years old.

Obafemi Martins Early Life

Martins grew up in Lagos, alongside his brothers, Oladipupo and John Ronan, who would also turn out to be professional footballers. After leaving Nigeria for Italy at age 16, he has since played for a number of top-division clubs around Europe.

Obafemi Martins Career

Obafemi shot into the attention of the footballing community when he joined Inter Milan from Regianna in the year 2001. The transfer fee cost €750,000. At Inter, he quickly settled into the U-18 side, scoring 23 goals, and helping them to the U-18 title of that year. He was promoted to the senior side the following season, making his debut against Parma in December 2002. By the following season, he became a regular in the team, featuring in the League and in the Champions' League.

The striker signed a long-term contract with Inter Milan in 2005 which ran until 2010 and was worth around €2.5 million annually. He was however sold to Newcastle the following year after Inter brought in two strikers - Hernan Crespofrom Chelsea (loan) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Juventus. The transfer to Newcastle was completed after he handed in a transfer request, apparently in search of regular football.

The deal to bring the player to England was completed on 24 August 2006 for €15 million. He signed a five-year deal, and inherited the club's cherished number 9 shirt, vacated after the retirement of the club-record goalscorer Alan Shearer in April. Obagoal made his debut for Newcastle on 27 August, in the 2–0 defeat to Aston Villa where he was stretchered off with a knee injury. However, on 17 September, Martins scored his first goal for Newcastle. It was the second goal in a 2–0 victory over West Ham United at Upton Park, and from there his goalscoring form began to improve steadily.

On 14 January, in a 2–3 away win against Tottenham Hotspur, Martins' 20-yard shot rocketed into the net. This strike was clocked by Sky Sports at a speed of 84 mph (135 km/h), making it unofficially the ninth hardest shot ever recorded in football. By the time he departed Newcastle for Wolfsburg in a £9 million deal in the year 2009, he had scored 35 goals in 104 appearances for the Magpies.

After leaving Newcastle, Martins joined Wolfsburg, and had other short stints at Rubin Kazan, and Birmingham City (loan), where he scored the winner in the 2011 League Cup final against Arsenal; a goal he would later refer to as "the easiest goal I've ever scored in my career." He joined Levante on another short stint before leaving to join MLS club Seattle Sounders FC on 15 March 2013.

Obafemi scored his first goal for Seattle Sounders on 20 April 2013, performing his signature back-flip goal celebration. On 24 October 2014, he signed a new three-year contract extension with Seattle, nearly doubling his annual salary to more than $3 million. He finished with 17 goals during the regular season, a club record, as well as notching 13 assists, a joint-club record held with Mauro Rosales.

Obafemi had a very successful 2014 season with the Sounders, his second with the club, and was named as one of three MLS MVP finalists. He was named as part of the MLS Best XI, and won the award for MLS Goal of the Yearin recognition of his effort against Eathquakes - a looping goal he shot from an extremely tight angle near the end line into the far netting over keeper Jon Busch. On 18 February 2016, he left Seattle Sounders and signed for Shanghai Greenland Shenhua, where he plies his trade till the date.

In international football, Obafemi has been in the Nigerian squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2006, 2008 and 2010, and for the FIFA World Cup in 2010. He has scored 18 goals in 41 appearances for the Nigerian national team.

Obafemi Martins Personal Life

Obafemi has two brothers. One of them, Oladipupo, who played for Reggiana, Partizan and Innsbuck, retired in 2009 due to heart problems. He however, died on August 8, 2011 in Lagos. Obafemi is married to Ghanaian-Italian Abigail Barwuah, sister of Italian international footballer, Mario Balotelli. The couple has one child named Kendrick, born in 2013. He also has two other sons from two different women.