Earnshaw's move from West bromwich Albion included a clause allowing the player to be sold for £3.5million should the Canaries fail to gain promotion by the end of his second season, although the former Cardiff man only joined halfway through the first.
The move puts City in serious trouble in the striking department, having seemingly lost out to Sheffield United in the race for Billy Sharp and looking likely to have to pay over the odds for former player Jamie Cureton.
Earnshaw, meanwhile, is unlikely to be popular with the fans he leaves behind. Few will give Billy Davies' Derby a cat-in-hell's chance of survival in the top flight, and it is a stark contrast to Dean Ashton's departure, which earned City more than a 100% profit and saw the striker move to a side then established as a Premiership force.