Newcastle United and their supporters can boast that they once had the most prolific goalscorer in the history of the Premier League in Alan Shearer.
The now-retired former England international scored a staggering 260 goals in 441 appearances throughout his career in the division, at least 47 more than any other player has managed in the history of the league so far.
A knee injury forced the incredible marksman to retire at the end of the 2005/06 campaign, and Newcastle faced the incredibly difficult task of replacing their legendary centre-forward.
Unfortunately, they splashed the cash on 21-year-old Inter striker Obafemi Martins, who took on the iconic number nine jersey from Shearer, and he endured an underwhelming time at St. James' Park.
How much Newcastle paid for Obafemi Martins in 2024 money
Per Totally Money, the Magpies spent £14.4m to sign the Nigeria international in 2006 and, if you adjust for the inflation of transfer fees in football over the subsequent years, he would have cost a whopping £49.7m in 2024.
Totally Money have taken the 100 most expensive transfers of all time across each season since 1992 in Europe's top five leagues. Armed with plenty of historical financial data they have calculated what footballers of yesteryear would be worth in the present day after taking into account the remarkable rate of inflation.
This shows that Newcastle were willing to spend big to replace Shearer, with The BBC reporting at the time that Martins was seen as a replacement for the English legend, but it did not translate to worthwhile performances on the pitch.
The former Inter whiz was not a complete and utter flop at St. James' Park, with 35 goals in 105 appearances in all competitions. However, the Nigerian forward failed to hit double figures for goals in two of his three Premier League seasons and never managed more than 11 league strikes in one campaign.
Appearances
33
11
4
Goals
31
9
3
Assists
24
8
2
Whereas, Shearer plundered ten or more goals in seven Premier League seasons, and 20 or more in four terms, across ten years at the club.
Ultimately, Newcastle spent a lot of money on a striker who failed to score goals on a consistent basis, irrespective of high the bar was set by his predecessor.
They then made a loss on Martins as they sold him to Wolfsburg – per Totally Money – for a fee of £9.4m that would be worth £21.8m in 2024 money, which shows that they had a nightmare with the attacker.
How much Newcastle paid for Callum Wilson
Martins' record in comparison to current Newcastle striker Callum Wilson, who was signed for £20m from Bournemouth in 2020, further illustrates how much the club messed up when they spent huge money on the forward to replace Shearer in 2006.
The England international cost less than half as much as the Nigeria international – in 2024 money per Totally Money's index – and has racked up 46 goals and 11 assists in 104 appearances in all competitions.
This means that the 32-year-old marksman has scored 11 more goals for the club in one fewer match than Martins managed during his three years on Tyneside.
Wilson has also hit double figures for goals in the Premier League, with 12 and 18, in both of his two full seasons with the Magpies, and could still do it this term with seven goals to his name so far.
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This shows how much of a blunder Newcastle made with the signing of Martins, who cost considerably more – relative to the time of the deal – and delivered less on the pitch.