Derby County must thank Norwich City for handing them a 76-goal striker | OneFootball

Making a permanent move to Derby County on a free transfer in 2013, Chris Martin went on to become one of the club's best in the modern era.

Derby County's 2013 free transfer signing of Chris Martin from Norwich City was a masterstroke that handed them their greatest modern-era goalscorer.

The striker originally joined the Rams on a one-month loan deal in January 2013 following a spell with Swindon Town, before Derby went on to later extend this to the end of the season.

Scoring twice in 13 games, with his first coming in a 2-1 win over rivals Leicester, he impressed enough to earn a permanent move when his Norwich contract expired.

Little did Norwich know at the time, but their decision to let him leave for Pride Park on a free transfer would gift Derby one of the club's most prolific strikers in their recent history...

Norwich hand Chris Martin to Derby County on a plate

Norwich's decision to opt against an extension of Martin's contract in 2013 proved to be a pivotal moment for Derby.

Martin, then 24, had progressed through their academy and scored 34 goals in 117 appearances.

However, with his contract nearing its end at the conclusion of the 2012/13 season, and the club sitting in the Premier League at the time, he was deemed surplus to requirements at Carrow Road.

This miscalculation by the Canaries ensured they'd hand Derby a striker who would go on to become a modern-day legend at Pride Park, simply on a plate.

Chris Martin's Derby County arrival

After his first goal for the club since his loan arrival, then Derby manager Nigel Clough said: "We've been very encouraged by what we've seen from Chris and feel there's more to come from him too."

Clough was correct in his assessment of his new centre-forward, as there certainly was more to come from him in a Rams shirt.

In his first full season as a Derby player, Martin fired home 20 Championship goals in the 2013/14 season to power Derby to the play-offs, though they fell to QPR at Wembley.

He remained a talisman for the Rams in 2014/15, scoring 18 goals that term, before following that return up with 15 in 2015/16.

All the while, the club's fortunes in the second tier saw them continuously go close to winning promotion, after missing out on the top six entirely in 2015 despite the club sitting at the top of the table in February, and a play-off semi-final defeat to Hull City in 2016.

What was the most surprising factor about all of this, was that his time at the club came to a shock halt in 2016.

Chris Martin's shock loan departure to Fulham

Following the 2016 play-off failure, Derby found themselves in limbo.

Nigel Pearson left the club in October 2016 with the club sitting 20th in the Championship after a heated exhange with owner Mel Morris, and Steve McClaren was brought back after losing his job just over a year prior.

With a rebuild on the cards, Martin was loaned out to Fulham, a move that surprised many within the fanbase, given his 53 goals in three seasons.

Martin would bag 10 goals in 31 Championship appearances for the Cottagers during the 2016/17 season, reaffirming that he was a quality and reliable source of goals at second tier level.

However, upon his return to Pride Park, he continued to find himself out of favour at the club under Gary Rowett and Frank Lampard respectively, who both took the Rams to the play-offs in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

He would go on to have loan spells with struggling Championship sides Reading and Hull; however, he scored just three Championship goals across the 17/18 and 18/19 campaigns, seeing him go back to Derby completely out of form.

Chris Martin rolled back the years in final Derby term

Following Frank Lampard's move to Chelsea in the summer of 2019, former Barcelona midfielder Phillip Cocu took the reins, and finally, Martin was back in the fold at Pride Park after his Derby career seemed over.

While he was not the central figure he once was at the top end of the pitch for Derby, he was able to flash back to years gone by as he racked up 35 league appearances in his farewell season.

An equaliser in the dying embers against eventual champions Leeds United, a similar feat against arch-rivals Nottingham Forest, and 12 goals in all competitions saw Martin close out his Derby career in fantastic fashion.

With 76 goals for the Rams, Martin finished his Derby County career among the greats near the top of the club's all-time top scorers list, while no other Derby player since the turn of the millennium can match the goal tally of Martin.

Martin left for Bristol City in 2020, later joining QPR and Bristol Rovers. But, his 76 goals and near-promotion heroics ensure Derby fans will always welcome him back with open arms.