Obafemi Martins is the latest Newcastle player to be told by the new regime that he can leave if the club can find a suitable buyer this summer. The Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce will have to sell players in order to raise money if he is to bring in new faces and the Nigerian will be used to raise transfer funds. So far there have been few takers for Kieron Dyer, with reputed interest from West Ham and Tottenham cooling of late. Allardyce would like to move the England international out but he has not attracted the kind of interest that he would have done even two years ago and already injury problems could potentially derail the start of Newcastle's season.With 11 goals last season after his £10m move from Internazionale last August, Martins is an attractive prospect although his wages, understood to be £60,000 a week, could discourage buyers from outside the Premiership. Despite his impact during the season doubts were raised over his refusal to play against Watford on 13 May - though he claimed he was injured. During an eventful summer he claimed his car was shot at when he was driving in Lagos.
The imperative for Allardyce to sell goes to the heart of Mike Ashley's £133m takeover. Part of the problem is the debt billionaire Ashley inherited when he bought the club for £133million.
His aggressive business tactics are such that he did not even undertake due diligence to go through Newcastle's books. That allowed him to blindside Freddy Shepherd to such an extent that the former Newcastle chairman has admitted the first he knew of any takeover was as he lay seriously ill in hospital. Shepherd could not react and Ashley, armed with the 40 per cent of the club he had bought off the Hall family, was able to steamroller through with his takeover. 'He parks his tanks on people's lawns' was said of his style . . . and that certainly proved telling in his power snatch at St James' Park.
The price for such an audacious takeover, however, is only now becoming apparent. Ashley, it seems, underestimated the size of the debt he was taking on. That he now has an £80m deficit to bring under control could seriously affect Allardyce's rebuilding programme.
Since taking over he has actually seen his squad size diminish. Joey Barton, Mark Viduka, Geremi and David Rozenhal have moved in meanwhile Scott Parker has been sold to West Ham United for £7m and 6 other players have left for nothing. Newcastle's net spending so far this summer is only £1.7m. Kieron Dyer could make that seven, but Allardyce is aware he will be given whatever fee he raises from selling the England midfielder to spend on new players and does not want anything less than £5m. Dyer's injury record has so far prevented an offer of that amount.
West Ham remain favourites but the player's preferred choice, Tottenham, have a wage structure that simply cannot get anywhere near the £80,000 weekly wages he currently picks up. However, his prime concern is for the release of more funds than the £10m initially set aside. That total could rise if certain players become available but it is not quite the kind of financial might Allardyce hoped for when he took over in May.
