The experienced central defender was an 11th hour Deadline Day addition as City reacted quickly to losing Andrew Omobamidele, who joined Premier League side Nottingham Forest in a deal that could rise to £20m.
Batth has been on City’s shortlist all summer – but elevated to the top of their list due to the possibility of signing him from Sunderland after he saw moves to Blackburn and Cardiff fall through.
Norwich’s sporting director Stuart Webber and goalkeeping coach Paul Clements know Batth from their time at Wolves.
The 32-year-old had to wait until the deadline to find out whether the move had gone through – with Norwich submitting their paperwork at 11.15pm after requesting a 15-minute extension from the EFL.
Sunderland were willing to let Batth depart for Norfolk on a free transfer and Speakman revealed it was a tough decision to make.
“Danny is a highly respected player and he’s been an absolute professional throughout his time at Sunderland AFC, which is exactly why we brought him to the club,” Speakman told the Black Cats’ channels.
“He’s not featured in our team this season and it’s in his nature to want to play games regularly, and compete week-in, week-out. Following an open dialogue with him throughout the summer, we took the difficult decision to agree to allow him to leave the Club if the right opportunity presented itself and we wish him all the best.”
Batth was voted as Sunderland’s player of the season in a campaign that saw them finish inside the play-offs last term and was a popular player during his spell on Wearside.
He joined Norwich on a free transfer and manager Tony Mowbray agreed that letting to let the defender join City was a ‘tough’ call to make.
“Sometimes you have to make some really tough decisions,” said Mowbray to the Northern Echo after Saturday’s win over Southampton.
“Danny Batth and Lynden Gooch are really tough decisions but if the quality comes in, I’ve always said, the king is dead, long live the king.”
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