DANIEL Ballard was effectively on the scrapheap ahead of the summer months after being told he had no future at Arsenal leading to his permanent switch to Sunderland.

Ballard become the Black Cats first signing of the summer this week joining the club on a three-year deal for a fee understood to be in the region of £1.5m.

The 22-year-old came through the Gunners academy from a young age. He was released as a schoolboy before earning his work back into the youth set up after some time with his home town club Stevenage. Ballard has gone on to establish himself elsewhere during loan spells in League One with Blackpool and the Championship with Millwall but despite his efforts, he never went on to make an appearance for the first-team.

Ballard would have had work to do to dislodge Arsenal current defensive cohort of Ben White, Gabriel and Rob Holding but from conversations with the club this summer, it seemed like his fortunes weren’t going to change paving the way for a permanent move to Wearside.

“Arsenal made it pretty clear that there wasn't a pathway through to the first team at this moment in time” he said. “I think we sort of agreed that it was the best thing for me to look for a new challenge permanently.

“There was a lot of interest from a few clubs and it was just about picking the right one to progress with. 

“It'll definitely be a bit strange not being an Arsenal player, not having that bit of extra support and going back at the end of the season, but I definitely think I've picked the right club so that I don't need that. This is a great challenge and I'm really looking forward to it.”

While his Arsenal journey has been drawn to a close, a new page in Ballard’s chapter will be written as he joined up with his new Sunderland team mates this week. The central defender, who will now compete with Bailey Wright and Danny Batth for a place in the heart of the backline, trained away from the squad due to being a late arrival as they step up their pre-season preparations.

Ballard’s performances in recent season but him a wanted man over the summer but while there is an acknowledgement that Ballard needs to get up to speed, he recognises there are other things to work as part of his continuing development.

Ballard continued: “I think as a player my defensive skills have always been probably my main strength, it's something which comes really naturally to me because it's a side of the game I really love. 

“I think my stuff on the ball is probably the side of the game I can work on, because obviously the game has changed a lot in the past few years, so that's been a key focus. I feel really confident with that now and it's something which I'll keep going with, so I can hopefully be that really well-rounded player.”

The Black Cats, who played a behind-closed-doors friendlies against Blyth Spartans and Gateshead yesterday, are due to head out to Portugal this week where they will face Europa League finalists Rangers.