WITH 10 DAYS LEFT OF THE TRANSFER WINDOW ARE NEWCASTLE ABOUT TO BE HIT WITH A HAMMER BLOW?
So Manchester United want to take advantage of Oba Martins' £13million release clause and make him a Red.
Well it wouldn't be the first time we've lost our number 9 to the Red Devils of Manchester would it?
Back in 1995, Kevin Keegan actually had the bottle to go down to the Milburn Stand steps and explain why Andy Cole was on his way - but it did little to stop the feeling of anger on Tyneside and it took months for people to calm down when Les Ferdinand arrived later in the summer to replace him.
But would Martins' exit cause a similar response from the Geordie nation this time around?
Too right it would!
OK, Martins is nowhere near as popular as Cole, who was in his pomp and was actually the bullets that came out of Keegan's attacking machine gun and shot Newcastle into Europe in their first season in the Premier League.
But Martins is probably one of the most popular figures to pull on a black and white shirt in the last two years and has done a brilliant job at Newcastle since arriving from Inter Milan.
It could not have been easy to take the number 9 shirt from Alan Shearer, but that is exactly what he's done and managed to score 17 goals in his first season.
He was clearly on a mission at Bolton and his two goals were a reminder that Newcastle have a quality player on their hands.
True, he couldn't follow it up with goals against Aston Villa and it wasn't his best game in a black and white shirt.
But he still left the pitch to fans chanting his name and has there ever been a striker that scores in every single game?
Martins has said a few times that he is "happy" on Tyneside but with Man United desperate to get a striker in before the transfer deadline, it could be out of the hands of his vast Geordie fan club.
One idea might have been sorting out a new contract at the start of the season that DID NOT contain an escape clause.
Because in the eyes of many fans, Martins going would be a major blow.
Yes, still a major blow even with Owen, Viduka, Ameobi and Smith on the books, as well as Luque and Carroll in the background - you can't have too many good players.
At the end of the day Man U can't get a striker for love nor money and we've got them coming out of our ears, seems a hammer blow to actually feel we could now be about to help a team that were once our closest rivals.
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