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March 15, 2013 at 7:26 AM

Obafemi Martins says he’s en route to Seattle, signing should be official soon

Here is a tweet this morning from Obafemi Martins.

Looks like the Nigerian forward got his visa and is heading to Seattle to officially sign with Sounders FC. Don’t expect him to feature in Saturday’s rivalry game against Portland, obviously, but he should be able to check out the action and atmosphere at CenturyLink Field himself.

Maybe he could wave to the crowd in a special announcement.

Keep in mind, Martins was called up by Nigeria for a FIFA World Cup qualifier next weekend against Kenya, so it might not be until a March 30 road game at Real Salt Lake or a April 2-4 home leg in the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals that Martins is able to play.

Here’s a brief timeline on the Martins-to-Seattle saga so far…

Feb. 19 — The Washington Post reports the Sounders are interested in Martins.
Feb. 25 — The Sounders said a team official to Spain to work on the transfer.
Feb. 28 — Martins tells the BBC the move is nearly complete.
March 2 — The Sounders buy out Christian Tiffert’s contract to open a DP slot on the roster.
March 11 — Martins pays buyout clause of his contract with Spain’s Levante UD (reportedly nearly $4 million) and announces he’ll sign with Seattle.
March 13 — Martins tells the BBC he’s just waiting to get his visa before officially signing.
March 15 — Martins tweets that he’s en route to Seattle.

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About the author

Joshua Mayers joined The Seattle Times as a part-time news assistant in 2005 and took over the Sounders FC beat before the 2010 season. He is a native of Bellingham, Wash., and graduated from the University of Washington with a journalism degree in 2007.
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