The first transfer involving Norwich City on deadline day has been a shock exit – with reigning player-of-the-season Bradley Johnson leaving the club for Derby County.

The Championship promotion rivals have announced the transfer, with the former Leeds United midfielder signing a four-year deal and leaving for a fee understood to be worth around £6million, rising to £7.5m in potential add-on fees.

Johnson said: 'It wasn't a hard decision. The interest Derby showed in me to get me down here in the first place and walk around and see the facilities, and their ambition at this club is to get into the Premier League and I've played in the Premier League, so I've got that experience and I've also got the experience of getting out of this league.

'They've got a great squad of players down here, I know many of the players and I'm looking forward to starting and doing well at this club and hopefully getting out of this league.'

Johnson's move was confirmed just before the 6pm official deadline, prompting shocked reactions among Canaries supporters.

'I came up here expecting things to go smoothly but nothing goes smoothly in football and we had to wait until literally the last two minutes of the window,' Johnson continued, speaking to his new club's official website.

'But we've got it over the line and I'm delighted to have got it done and delighted to have signed for Derby County.

'It was my first experience of it (a deadline day signing) and I hope it's my last, I couldn't go through that again.

'It's been a long day but I'm delighted it's done and looking forward to starting my career at Derby County.

The 28-year-old joined City from Leeds on a free transfer in the summer of 2011 and made 154 appearances in all competitions, scoring 22 goals.

Fifteen of those goals came in helping the Canaries to earn promotion from the Championship last season, earning him the Barry Butler Trophy after being voted as player of the year by the club's supporters.

Rams boss Paul Clement told his club's official website: 'Being able to bring Bradley to Derby represents a major coup for the football club.

'As I have said before, the midfield position is one we have been trying to strengthen, not just with numbers but with quality, and Bradley certainly brings that in abundance.

'His experience will prove invaluable to us. He knows how to get out of this division, he has played a lot of Premier League football and is a leader.

'These are all qualities that we are looking to bring to Derby County and we are delighted to have a player of his stature and quality added to our squad.'

Despite last season's heroics, Johnson was already finding it difficult to pin down a place in Alex Neil's starting line-up after the club's return to the Premier League.

He had started the opening-day 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace at Carrow Road but subsequently featured as a substitute in the next three league matches, although played all of the 2-1 victory at Rotherham in the Capital One Cup.

Confirming the deal on their website, the Canaries said in a statement: 'The club would like to place on record its gratitude to Bradley for his considerable efforts while at Carrow Road, and wish him all the best for the future.'

Are you surprised to see Johnson leave or do you think City have agreed the right deal? Leave your comments below.