Derby signs Matej Vydra for reported club-record fee of around £8M

Derby County is reportedly paying a club-record transfer fee for a player that failed to establish himself at Watford.

On Saturday, Derby signed Matej Vydra from Watford for a fee that, according to BBC Radio Derby, is valued at around £8 million. The Czech forward put pen to paper on a four-year contract until the summer of 2020, becoming the Rams' second signing of the summer transfer window after acquiring James Wilson on a season-long loan from Manchester United.

(Courtesy: Derby County)

"It was an easy choice to move here," Vydra said. "I want to score goals to help Derby be a successful team."

Vydra joined Watford on loan from Udinese Calcio in 2012 and, after tallying 16 goals and five assists during the 2014-15 Championship to help the Hornets achieve promotion to the Premier League, was the subject of a permanent deal. However, the 24-year-old fell behind Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo in the club's pecking order and spent the 2015-16 season on loan at Reading.

Derby's previous club-record fee was apparently its signing of Bradley Johnson, for whom the Rams signed from Norwich City in 2015 for about £6 million.