Arsene Wenger is an acknowledged admirer of the player, who scored 17 goals in his first season in England after clinching a £10m move to Newcastle from Inter Milan last summer.

However, Allardyce will sit down with Martins next week when he returns for pre-season training and attempt to convince him of his ambitions for the club.

The manager said: “All I can say from the club’s point of view and mine is that it is only speculation because we have had no official contact from anybody at Arsenal at the moment.

“Everybody knows about the clause situation he has – that leaves us in a very poor position as a football club.

“We have got the player contracted, it does not mean we have got the player and we can decide if we want to sell him or not because there is a get-out clause in that contract.

“We are left in a very precarious position regarding that. All the speculation that is flying around is difficult to cope with, but it is something we will have to try to find out over the next few days.

“When Oba comes back, we will sit down and say: ’What exactly is the situation?’ and if he has any problems, try to resolve them and hopefully persuade him Newcastle is the place for him next season.”

Speculation has been rife over the futures of Martins and £17m record signing Michael Owen, who also has an escape clause in is contract, although Allardyce is hopeful of retaining the services of both.

He said: “I don’t think there is any need to speak to Michael – that was all covered weeks and weeks ago, as far as I was concerned.

“There has been no speculation regarding Michael since then. Now it has moved on to Oba and when that sort of clause is inserted in a contract, those are the sort of players that bring up more speculation than everybody else.”

Meanwhile, Allardyce, who hopes to seal his move for Paris St Germain defender David Rozehnal later today, has admitted his interest in Chelsea utility man Geremi.

He said: “Geremi is something we would like to pursue, but many other clubs in the Premier League will be doing exactly the same thing as Newcastle.

“Hopefully we can persuade him – if we get the opportunity – to join this football club and not the others who will be chasing him as well as us.

“It is a long way from done, but there is an interest there and hopefully we can progress it over the next few days.”

Allardyce’s comments came as the Magpies announced a multi-million pound four-year drinks sponsorship deal with Carling this morning.