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Sunderland have agreed a deal with Arsenal to sign central defender Daniel Ballard.
The Northern Ireland international had been on the verge of joining Burnley last week, and had got as far as having a medical with the recently relegated club., only for the deal to break down at the last minute when personal terms could not be agreed.
However, there was immediate interest from other clubs, among them Sheffield United, before Sunderland, who will be starting next season in the Championship after a gap of five years, made their move.
Ballard, who joined the Arsenal academy system as a boy, never played a senior game for the Gunners.
However, he impressed on loan in league with Blackpool two seasons again and back in the Championship last campaign with Millwall.
The 22 year old has 15 senior caps for Northern Ireland since making his international debut in 2020.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.