Derby County completed the signing of experienced centre-back Matt Clarke in January 2025.

The defender returned to Pride Park Stadium from Middlesbrough on a permanent deal until the end of the 2024/25 season after the club came to an undisclosed agreement with their Sky Bet Championship rivals.

Clarke, who spent the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons with the Rams on loan from Premier League Brighton & Hove Albion - won the Jack Stamps Player of the Season award in the former campaign. He made 81 appearances in black and white in total across the two loan spells.

After returning to Derby in the 2024/25 season, he impressed once again with the Ram on his chest, putting in 16 appearances as the side won six and drew three of their last 10 matches to secure their place in the Sky Bet Championship under the tutelage of Head Coach John Eustace. He went on to sign a new three-year deal following the end of the season.

Born in Suffolk, Clarke graduated from Ipswich Town’s academy and made four first-team appearances after making his breakthrough to the first-team squad during the 2014/15 season.

The following year, he joined Portsmouth on loan for the 2015/16 campaign and he impressed sufficiently throughout his 33 appearances in all competitions to earn a permanent move in the summer of 2016.

He spent the next three years at Fratton Park, winning promotion from League Two in 2017 and the EFL Trophy in 2019, when he played the full 120 minutes at Wembley Stadium as Pompey overcame Sunderland on penalties.

Clarke’s form in League One attracted attention from the Premier League and he signed a four-year deal with Brighton and Hove Albion in June 2019, before making the switch to Pride Park on loan before the 2019/20 campaign got underway.

The centre-back made his debut in a 2-1 away win at Huddersfield Town on the opening day of the season and went on to make 38 league appearances as he won the club’s Jack Stamps Player of the Season award.

He returned to Derby for a second season-long loan for the following campaign and he missed only three league games as the Rams maintained their Championship status on the final day.

One final loan move followed as he linked up with West Bromwich Albion for 2021/22 in the Championship once more, where he was again a regular, before joining Middlesbrough on a permanent deal in August 2022 and made 51 appearances in total ahead of his return to Derby.