Transfers - Idol Gossip

Obafemi Martins gets told to leave Newcastle United if he wants to be a success, while Albert Luque doesn't even need to be told anymore...

The head of the Nigerian Football Association Waidi Akanni has warned Newcastle United's struggling striker Obafemi Martins that he needs to leave his new club or risk ruining his career: "He should have moved to a winning team, not a struggling side like Newcastle," Akanni said. "If something is not done urgently, his career may suffer. Martins has not been playing well, everybody can see that. The Premiership is a tough league and for a player to come from Serie A to England and not play well is really disturbing. After a year or two, the club might want to dump such a player. I only hope Newcastle can come up with a winning strategy so Obafemi can raise his game and save his career. Otherwise, if Newcastle go down, he would have to look elsewhere - and I'm not sure any Premiership side would want to look his way as he has not been playing well." So, it's true, joining Newcastle really is bad for you... Just ask Albert Luque. He's been there a year longer than Martins and is definitely looking for an exit: "Time is passing in England and I'm still not playing as much as I would like," he told Radio Marca. "For that reason I'm not ruling out returning to Spain. As soon as I arrived I was injured for five months and since then the coach has not given me three consecutive games. If things continue as they are I would like to leave, but in the meantime I will just have to work hard. My priority is to return to Spain," he continued. "I had the chance to leave England for Greece or France, but if I leave England it will only be for Spain. Barca is a big club and it would be a pleasure to return to Spain. I was brought up in Barcelona and as a Catalan I have always been fond of Barca."

Carling.com