OBAFEMI Martins will be officially unveiled as Newcastle's flagship summer signing ahead of this evening's UEFA Cup clash with FK Ventspils, with Glenn Roeder insisting the Nigerian was always his number one target as he scoured Europe for a striker.

A Magpies delegation travelled to Italy yesterday morning to tie up the £10m capture of Martins and, provided the 21-year-old passes a medical on Tyneside this morning, he will be presented to the St James' Park crowd later tonight.

Martins' arrival from Inter Milan ends a three-month search that has seen Roeder linked with a host of leading marksmen including Tottenham's Jermain Defoe, West Ham's Dean Ashton, Charlton's Darren Bent and new Liverpool signing, Dirk Kuyt.

Signing Alan Shearer's replacement has proved both time-consuming and tortuous but, with Martins being lined up for a possible debut in Sunday's Premiership clash at Aston Villa, Roeder is delighted to have finally landed a striker he feels is tailor-made for the English top-flight.

"This has been running for the best part of three or four weeks," said Roeder, who is expected to make wholesale changes to the side that beat Wigan as he looks to book Newcastle's place in the UEFA Cup proper tonight. "But we believe that, by late (yesterday) evening, we will have our man.

"There's been speculation all through the summer about a dozen or so strikers. I've allowed that to run, but this is the man I've always wanted."

Martins' goalscoring record in his four full seasons at Inter was impressive enough - 28 goals in 88 appearances, an average of almost a goal every three games, is a decent statistic for Serie A - but it was his searing pace, his most notable characteristic, that first brought him to Roeder's attention.

The Magpies manager was an interested observer at Highbury in September 2003 as Martins terrorised Arsenal's back line during Inter's 3-0 victory in the Champions League.

"He has many qualities, but arguably his main one is his rapid pace," revealed Roeder, who will offer his latest signing the legendary number nine shirt.

"A lot of teams in the Premiership play a very high line, with lots of grass in behind to run into, and hopefully, with our midfield players, we can get him away on plenty of occasions to score that sort of goal.

"He's also powerful so, physically, he's going to be able to cope with the Premiership. Even at the price we're paying, I'm hoping that we've found a player who will have gone up in value in a couple of years time."

Roeder's enthusiasm underlines Martins' obvious potential, but Newcastle's attempts to lure the striker to Tyneside appeared to have hit a snag earlier this month when doubts began to surface about his true age.

The African's passport displays his date of birth as October 1, 1984, but the official website of the Nigerian FA had previously displayed a date that would have made him almost six years older.

Roeder has done everything possible to confirm that Martins is indeed a 21-year-old and, after satisfying himself that he is not signing an ageing centre-forward, he is demanding an end to the innuendo and rumour that continues to surround the striker's age.

"The one thing that the world of football loves is rumours," he said. "Especially rumours that don't read well. But I have absolutely no reason to doubt the documentation, such as the birth certificate and his passport.

"People are now going to have to be careful that they don't become disrespectful of the whole situation. If they start making accusations and trying to be clever or funny, it will be very insulting. It is time for people to stop carrying on with this nonsense.

"The rumour has come and gone - let's talk about him playing and doing well for the club."

Given Albert Luque's struggles to adapt to life in the Premiership, though, such success is hardly a given. Graeme Souness famously claimed that a range of Spanish sources had vouched for Luque's strength of character, only for the winger to appear uncommitted and uninterested once he arrived on English shores.

Martins will be expected to hit the ground running despite his lack of experience of the English game, but Roeder is convinced he will present no problems after receiving a glowing character reference from a first-hand acquaintance.

Magpies midfielder Emre spent three years at the San Siro with Martins and insists his new team-mate is as reliable off the pitch as he is razor-sharp on it.

"I have spoken to Glenn and told him that I believe in Obafemi," said Emre. "He is a nice boy. When I played with him, I found him to be a family man.

"He played with Reggina for a year before he moved to Inter Milan.

"That could have been a difficult move because Milan can be a dangerous city for a player to live in, but he handled it well.

"I am sure he will score lots of goals here. He is probably the fastest player I have ever played with."

The capture of Martins could not have come at a better time as Newcastle's only other recognised centre-forward, Shola Ameobi, is already facing a prolonged spell on the sidelines.

A summer injection to treat a long-standing hip problem appears to have been unsuccessful and, while United's medical staff are hoping to coax Ameobi through his latest problems without resorting to surgery, he will not feature against Ventspils tonight.

"Shola is a bit of a worry," admitted Roeder. "Martins would bring us up to three strikers - the last thing we need is to lose Shola and go back to two.

But, hopefully, we can manage the problem and get him through without an operation."

Steve Harper will replace Shay Given this evening - the Irishman is suffering from a muscular problem in his back - while Craig Moore is another doubt after injuring his knee at the weekend.