Hulse flew back from United's tour of Europe last night to negotiate his transfer to Pride Park after the two clubs agreed an undisclosed fee for his services.

He is expected to be officially unveiled as Paul Jewell's latest capture of the summer this afternoon.

Blackwell, whose players continue their pre-season programme with a friendly against Helmond Sport tomorrow, confirmed his inability to guarantee the 28-year-old a regular starting role next term was behind his decision.

But he conceded that, in an ideal world, he would prefer not to see Hulse join a team expected to feature among United's main rivals for promotion.

Blackwell told The Star: "Of course I'd rather not see Rob go to someone who are likely to challenge us.

"But there are only a small number of people who can afford someone like him and so you've got to weigh everything up, including the fact that he is in the last year of his contract.

"Like anything else, there are business considerations and there are sporting considerations.

"I couldn't ensure that Rob would be featuring in every game for us and that's obviously what he wants and needs.

"I can't keep people here for the sake of it and, if I did that, then I'd run the risk of having an unhappy squad, and that's not a situation I want to be in.

"Importantly, we've done this deal on our terms and done what we feel is right for us."

Derby first enquired about Hulse's availability last month only for a war of words to break out following comments attributed to their chairman, Adam Pearson.

Hulse, who played 45 minutes of Wednesday's game against KVK Tienen, made 24 appearances for United last season after recovering from a career-threatening leg injury sustained at Chelsea in March 2007.

What do you think? Post your comments below.

READ MORE

Football headlines
More Blades
More Owls
More Spireites
More Rovers
More Reds
More Millers
More Ice Hockey
More rugby league
More rugby union
More boxing
Sports columnists
All sport categories