Bailey Wright gives his verdict on Sunderland's 'stand-out' new signing Daniel Ballard

Bailey Wright has twice played against Daniel Ballard, with the ex-Arsenal man making an impression on the Aussie

Bailey Wright says Sunderland's new signing Daniel Ballard was a 'stand-out' player in Blackpool's rise to the Championship the season before last. Ballard joined the Black Cats from Arsenal last week in a move that could eventually be worth £2m.

But the 22-year-old Northern Ireland international has already shone during loan spells with Blackpool, where he helped the Tangerines win promotion from League One via the play-offs in 2021, and then last season in the Championship with Millwall. Ballard played home and away for Blackpool against Sunderland in April 2021, helping the Lancashire side keep clean sheets on both occasions as they won both those games 1-0.

Fellow centre-back Wright also played in those games, and he was hugely impressed with the youngster. "He's played a lot of games for someone who is still only 22," said the Australia international of Ballard.

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"I played against him when he was at Blackpool and rated him really highly - I thought he was a stand-out there - and then he had a great season last year at Millwall. He's an international, he has a lot of experience, and he seems a great addition as a person, too."

Ballard arrived on Thursday and has immediately slotted in at the Academy of Light. Wright said: "He was just in at the end of last week, but he seems to be a really great lad and he seems to have settled in really quickly.

"We already know he is a really good footballer but fitting into the group is also massively important, and he seems to have done that already."

Wright and Ballard will be part of the Sunderland squad that heads out to Portugal this week for a warm weather training camp on the Algarve, and for two prestige friendlies. The Black Cats take on Scottish giants and last season's Europa League finalists Glasgow Rangers on Saturday, and then face Jose Mourinho's Roma - who won the inaugural Europa Conference League last season - a week tomorrow, with both games to be played at the Estadio Municipal de Albufeira.

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