Nigeria forward Obafemi Martins is on the
verge of sealing a move to Chinese Super
League side Shanghai Shenhua from the
Seattle Sounders for a transfer fee of around
$3 million, a source confirmed to ESPN FC.
The BBC was the first to report that Martins
is headed to Shanghai, and that the deal is
done, but multiple sources have told ESPN FC
that the deal has not yet been finalized.
"With Oba, it's not done until it's done," said
one source.
Interest from China first surfaced on Friday,
with sources telling ESPN FC that multiple
CSL teams were pursuing the striker and now
Shanghai Shenhua appears to be close to
capturing Martins' signature.
A source with knowledge of the deal
confirmed that if the deal is completed, the
Sounders will not receive allocation money
since the transfer fee isn't high enough to
recoup the costs of Martins contract while he
was in Seattle.
CSL teams must adhere to a limit of five
foreigners, with one of those five coming
from Asia. At present, Shanghai Shenhua has
a full complement with newly signed Fredy
Guarin, Colombian midfielder Giovanni
Moreno, Greek defender Avraam
Papadopoulos, Senegal forward Demba Ba,
and former Everton and New York Red Bulls
forward Tim Cahill already on the books,
meaning one of them will need to be moved
before the CSL transfer window closes on
Feb. 26.
The move is a surprise given how productive
Martins, 31, has been for Seattle. He joined
the Sounders just after the start of the 2013
season, arriving from La Liga side Levante,
an went on to score 40 goals and add 23
assists in 80 league and playoff appearances,
and was named in the MLS Best XI in 2014.
Yet Seattle has a plethora of forward options,
with U.S. international Clint Dempsey, Nelson
Valdez, and highly touted youngster Jordan
Morris all competing for playing time. Morris
in particular looks to be the biggest
beneficiary of Martins' potential move.
The CSL has made news this month due to
the vast sums of money that are being spent.
The CSL's transfer record was broken three
times in a 10-day span with Brazilian
midfielder Ramires moving from Chelsea to
Jiangsu Suning for $28.5m on Jan. 27,
Colombian striker Jackson Martinez moving
from Atletico Madrid to Guangzhou
Evergrande Taobao for $47.2m on Feb. 3, and
Alex Teixeira moving from Shakhtar Donetsk
to Jiangsu Suning for $56m two days later.
Shanghai will be the ninth club for which
Martins has played after spells with
Reggiana, Inter Milan, Newcastle United, Vfl
Wolfsburg, and Rubin Kazan. He also had a
loan spell at Birmingham City that included
scoring the winning goal against Arsenal in
the 2011 League Cup final.
At international level, Martins has scored 18
goals in 41 games for Nigeria, and was a part
of the Super Eagles' squad at the 2010 World
Cup. He was also played for Nigeria at the
African Nations Cup in 2006, 2008, and 2010.
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