The Derby Telegraph believes that Derby County are close to sealing the signing of Huddersfield Town’s Jacob Butterfield. A fee in the region of £3.5-4million is set to see head coach Paul Clement bring in his eight signing of the summer.
25-year-old Butterfield has constantly been linked with this move for the past few weeks and although the club haven’t officially confirmed the news, the transfer should be announced later today. He has played in five league games so far this season, scoring once in the home draw against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Former Real Madrid assistant coach Clement clearly see’s Butterfield as the man to help boost his squad following an extremely disappointing start to the campaign. Last season Butterfield started all bar one of the 46 Championship games and attracted plenty of admirers during that time.
Butterfield moved to the John Smith’s Stadium in a swap deal which saw Adam Clayton move to Middlesbrough in the opposite direction. He has gone on to complete over 50 appearances with the Terriers and has bypassed the 200 appearance figure throughout his entire career so far.
Derby have been in the market for a new playmaker for some time. Bids for Nottingham Forest’s Michail Antonio and Brighton’s Dale Stephens were rebuffed, leading to Clement saying that the club won’t pay excess amounts for any player in this transfer window,
“We have got our valuation of what we think a player is worth, the clubs have higher valuations but we are not going to overpay.”
With news that Butterfield, who was Huddersfield’s player of the year last season, is set to join the club in the coming hours, Derby fans will be encouraged to see their squad strengthened in this area. The likes of Darren Bent, Tom Ince, Chris Baird, Andreas Weimann and Jason Shackell have already joined the Clement era this summer and Butterfield will be hoping to stamp his mark instantly to help improve results.
