Derby County hit the jackpot with £8m transfer - £11m windfall soon followed | OneFootball

Matej Vydra's 2016 transfer to Derby County was a statement signing, he repaid his fee and more over the course of the 2017/18 campaign.

In 2016, Derby County broke their transfer record as Matej Vydra was brought to the club on a four-year deal from Watford as the Hornets prepared for a second successive season in the Premier League.

The Rams had just missed out on promotion themselves, as they failed to recover from a 3-0 home defeat at Hull City in the first leg of the Championship play-off semi-final in the 2015/16 campaign, ultimately losing the tie 3-2 across the two legs.

Nonetheless, with Nigel Pearson in charge of the club for the new season, former owner Mel Morris was keen on carrying on his spending touch and forked out £8m on the Czechia international, as he switched Hertfordshire for Derbyshire just days before the summer transfer window came to a close.

While Vydra did not quite hit the heights that his fee commanded in his first year at Pride Park, in 2017/18 he found form and became a force in the Championship.

Derby supporters will never forget his impact, and the memories that he gave them in his second full season at the club remain in the history books.

Matej Vydra stunned the Championship with Derby County in 2017/18

The Rams started the season at Sunderland, and while Bradley Johnson's goal was enough for a 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light, it would take until matchday three for Vydra to get on the scoresheet. He fired in from the spot in a 1-0 home win against Preston North End, scoring another three in his next four matches.

Under Gary Rowett, Derby struggled for consistency in the first weeks of the campaign, but as autumn hit, the East Midlands outfit started to flex their strength and the now 33-year-old was a key part of that.

He scored in just 24 seconds against bitter rivals Nottingham Forest at Pride Park, as the home side kept the Brian Clough Trophy in DE24, with Vydra assisting David Nugent for the second goal in the 2-0 victory in October 2017. A week later, the forward would find the back of the net again, this time against Sheffield Wednesday.

However, it was in a 3-0 away victory over Middlesbrough where the Rams' former number 23 showed the rest of the Championship that he would cause defences issues if given the opportunity. He scored a hat-trick on Teesside, helping his side close in on the top six as the festive season approached.

Derby went 12 games unbeaten from the start of December through to mid-February, pushing themselves into second. By this point, Vydra already had 17 goals in the league, and was on course to take the Championship Golden Boot.

Matej Vydra's form stuttered but Derby County still found profit

While the current Viktoria Plzen star only found the back of the net four more times in 2017/18, it was enough for him to finish the season as the division's top scorer, with a strike against Barnsley on the final day ensuring that he won the trophy.

However, Vydra could not stop Derby from suffering play-off heartbreak once again, as Fulham overturned a 1-0 deficit from the first leg to run out 2-1 and secure their place at Wembley to face Aston Villa in the play-off final.

The Rams had failed to reach the Premier League once again, with their last season in the top flight coming 10 years prior, and their talisman looked for an exit.

While Leeds United thought they had secured an £11m deal with Derby for Vydra, it was in fact Burnley who signed the Czech forward, as the East Midlands outfit pocketed £3m worth of profit just two years after his £8m move to Pride Park.