Shackell Deal Completed

Jason Shackell completed his switch from Barnsley signing a three year deal to become Derby County`s sixth permanent signing of an already busy summer transfer window. The 27 year old defender was captain of The Tykes and named their player of the season with his leadership qualities being a big plus points in terms of the deal with Nigel Clough admitting he was one of his main targets. The deal is believed to worth up to £1million including add-ons although was officially announced as an undisclosed fee. The Rams had to fight off competition from a number of clubs to land Shackell and the player spoke to dcfc.co.uk about his choice to come to Pride Park saying:

'I am delighted to be here and very happy to be a Derby County player. There were a few clubs who threw their hat into the ring, but after talking to Nigel Clough it was pretty clear Derby County was the best option for me. His whole demeanor was very positive and it was all about looking forward, and I liked that.'

Shackell also spoke of his ambition to play at the highest level and how he saw The Rams as the perfect platform to achieve this. He stated that Nigel Clough has similar ambitions to his own with both parties looking up rather than down and hoping to be challenging at the right end of the table next season. Shackell spoke highly of the quality of the players already recruited and said that there were more deals expected, continuing:

'This place is geared up for success and having seen how active the club has been in the market this summer to add to the quality that was already here, I wanted to be part of it. The manager has a lot of ambition to be challenging at the top end of this division and as an ambitious player myself I share those aspirations, so it was a perfect fit in many ways. From the conversations I have had more players are expected to arrive, so there's no reason why we can't look forward the season very positively."

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