The Nigerian international finalized the move to Newcastle after agreeing personal terms and passing a medical.

The new arrival will be a major boost for Newcastle boss Glen Roeder who suffered from a shortage of attacking options after the retirement of Alan Shearer and Michael Owen's injury that may rule him out for the rest of the season.

"There have been a dozen other strikers who were rumoured to be coming but he has always been the man I wanted," Roeder was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

"I wanted the pace. So for all the speculation, I knew who I was after."

Martins left Inter Milan to enhance his chances of playing regularly after the Italian giants signed attacking duo Hernan Crespo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.