Nigeria striker Obafemi Martins has left Inter Milan for Newcastle United for a fee of €15 million the Premier League club said on their website on Thursday.
Martins signed a five-year contract after agreeing personal terms and passing a medical.
The player is expected to watch Newcastle in their UEFA Cup second qualification round second leg against Latvia's FK Ventspils at St James' Park later on Thursday.
Newcastle have been desperate for a top-drawer striker. Alan Shearer has retired while England forward Michael Owen is not expected back until 2007 after his World Cup knee injury.
The 21-year-old Martins, who joined Inter in 2002, is a powerfully-built forward who can run at defences.
In December last year he extended his Inter contract until 2010 but the close-season acquisitions of Argentina striker Hernan Crespo from Chelsea and Sweden frontman Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Juventus, in the wake of Italy's match-fixing scandal, have pushed him down the pecking order.
Martins comes from Lagos and made his way as a teenager to Reggiana in Italy without any time in formal football structures in Nigeria.
