Winger Tony Springett says he is 'over the moon' to get a deal done to join Derby County on loan until the end of the season.
The 20-year-old joins the Rams from Championship side Norwich City and becomes Paul Warne’s first signing as Head Coach.
Springett spoke to RamsTV after completing the deal and discussed his excitement at joining the Rams and the influence that Warne had on him making the move.
On his Derby County welcome…
As soon as I came in I got a nice handshake from all of them and my head was kind of turning around all over the place but it’s been nothing but warm welcomes and I’m really excited to get going.
It’s my first time being in a new environment so coming somewhere new is quite hard but all the coaches have been really good with me and welcoming so I couldn’t have asked for anything more.
On his football journey so far…
I joined Norwich when I was 12 and went through the academy there and a boarding school with them. I’ve been through the U17s, U18s and U23s with them and then last year made my debut with the first team in the Premier League. Since being relegated I’ve made my Championship debut as well but at the moment I need to be playing games and Derby was such a hard opportunity to turn down. I’m over the moon they even decided to offer me this.
On when he heard about the interest…
I found out around a week ago. It’s been quite a hard process because I had to decide whether to continue my journey with Norwich and try and burst into the Championship or come here and try and burst into a squad that are doing so well and trying to earn promotion.
On the impact of Paul Warne…
I think that’s probably the main reason why I chose to come here. I had a couple of other choices but I had one facetime call with Paul Warne and that made my decision straight away. He’s such a nice guy, easy to get along with and has pretty good banter to be fair so he made my decision for me.
On what type of player he is…
I’m a winger, probably less on the tricks and skills side but when I go out on the pitch I give everything, I leave everything out there. I’ll run for the team and I’ll do everything to fight for this promotion.
On his squad number…
I picked number 22 because it’s my lucky number, not just because it’s my birthday but up until I joined Norwich when I was 12 I used to wear the number 22 week in and week out for my Sunday league club. I always thought to myself when I had that opportunity to get that number again I’m going to take it straight away.
