NEW Sunderland signing Dan Ballard has been revelling in the excitement of his new challenge and admits the club’s desire to bring him to Wearside persuaded him to make the move.

The 22-year-old central defender is the club’s first summer signing after he completed a permanent switch to Wearside from Arsenal on Thursday putting pen-to-paper on a three-year deal at the club.

Ballard was in training away from the first-team squad at the club’s Academy of Light training ground on Friday morning as he looks to get up to speed ahead of the new season.

The Northern Ireland international was the subject of interest from several Championship sides, including Millwall where he spent last season on loan. But the Black Cats pushed hard to get the promising defender through the door as he revealed “Sunderland approached really early, they showed a really strong interest. That was really exciting for me.

“There’s a lot of work that goes on, especially because of the fact that it’s not a loan so between the clubs there was a lot of negotiating to do. Obviously I don’t have any input in that so you’re just waiting, hoping that something can get agreed.

“We’ve got it done relatively early which is good, that was the plan. You want that pre-season so you can get settled, get to know the lads.”

Like Sunderland did last season, Ballard has also gained promotion from League One with Blackpool playing a key role in their play-off run in the 2020/21 season alongside current Sunderland midfielder Elliot Embleton.

Through his own admission, Sunderland manager Alex Neil is currently spending the majority of his time on recruitment for next season as he looks to shape his squad for their first season back in the second tier for four years.

Ballard was also quick to acknowledge how the manager played a big role in the move as he continued: “I had a lot of chats with the manager and the people above him, and they made really clear that I was one of the key targets and that they wanted me to be the first player through the door for them.

“That gave me an awful lot of confidence, just that they really wanted me here and also to be a really key part of the team.

“This is obviously a longer-term project and I think it was that ambition that really excited us. That was one of the main reasons I wanted to be here. I already feel comfortable and I’ve only been here a few days. I need to get myself up to fitness now, try and get myself into the team.”

With Ballard already in training with the squad, the Black Cats are due to head out on a pre-season tour of Portugal next week where they will play a friendly tie against Europa League finalists Rangers.