Jacob Butterfield says leaving Huddersfield Town for Derby County is the right move at the right time.

The 25-year-old has signed a four-year deal after leaving Town 12 months into the same length of contract.

“I started my career at Barnsley and had a good time there, received a lot of plaudits and earned a move to the Premier League (with Norwich City),” said Butterfield.

“But a knee injury really set me back two or three years in my career.

“It took me two years to really get over that and get some sort of form back and some rhythm in my play.

That came last year at Huddersfield and I really produced the kind of performances that I had done before that injury.

“Last year was, personally, a very good one for me, I enjoyed it at Huddersfield, but I felt that this was the right opportunity for me at this stage.”

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Butterfield, who joined Town from Middlesbrough during last year’s August transfer window, added: “It’s taken two or three weeks to get this deal over the line from the start of the process when Derby showed an interest.

“Everyone behind the scenes at the club has worked incredibly hard to get me in and get the deal done, they have shown a lot of belief in me and I am just delighted that it has been done now.

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“The way they have gone about their business and the amount effort the club has put in to get me here has been very impressive and they convinced me that this would be a really good fit for me.

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“This is a top, top club. You can see why they are one of the favourites for promotion and everything is set up here to be a Premier League club.”

Derby boss Paul Clement said: “As I’ve stated in the last few weeks, if we were going to add to our squad it would be a case of making a quality addition rather than bringing someone in just to make up the numbers.

“In Jacob, we have a very talented player and an individual experienced at Championship level.

“He is positive addition to our already strong squad and in light of (fellow midfielder) Will Hughes’ injury, Sam Rush and Chairman Mel Morris have worked tirelessly to get this deal over the line.”

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