10 Newcastle Heroes Whose Careers Nosedived Since Leaving

8. Obafemi Martins

Since he left Newcastle following their relegation to the second tier of English football in 2009, Obafemi Martins has achieved something Geordies will have wished he had in the black and white of the Toon - scored the winner in a cup final. Capitalising on a Laurent Koscielny mistake, the Nigerian tapped home a last-minute winner for Birmingham City against Arsenal in the 2011 League Cup Final - it was more or less the only notable thing he has done since leaving Tyneside five years ago. Having signed for Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg, he scored just six times in 25 appearances before being shipped off to Russia via Rubin Kazan in July 2010. He scored just twice in 17 games for the Russian outfit, before a six-game loan spell at Birmingham City transpired, and then managed a marginally superior total of three strikes in 17 games upon his return to Russia. In 2012, he signed for La Liga side Levante and bagged nine goals in 27 games during his only season at the club before signing for MLS side Seattle Sounders the following season. The former Inter Milan prodigy seems to have found his level, returning to form with 27 goals in 55 appearances for the club, but considering the fact that he has only just turned 30 years of age, one would have expected more of a player who had scored 49 goals for Inter Milan before he was 22.