Daniel Ballard is available to leave Arsenal on a permanent transfer this summer football.london understands. The 22-year-old spent last season on loan at Millwall where he impressed, making 32 appearances and helping to keep eight clean sheets.
The Gunners are understood to be delighted with his time in south London, but with Ben White, Gabriel, Rob Holding, Pablo Mari and William Saliba all on the books there are concerns over how much game time Ballard would be able to get if he came back up north. As a result the club have taken the decision to allow the defender, who has two years on remaining on his contract, to leave this summer if an appropriate offer is forthcoming.
Millwall are understood to be among several clubs interested in signing the Hale Ender. "Someone like Dan Ballard, I’ve said it before, we’d love to keep him at the club, whether that’s on loan or whether that’s permanently," manager Gary Rowett said in March. "But he’s Arsenal’s player and I’m sure they’ve got a plan for him long-term that’s maybe not the exact one we would hope for."
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It is however, early days in the process, and Ballard and his representatives are thought to be assessing options amid an influx of interested parties.
Ballard, who has received 10 caps for Northern Ireland, has been with Arsenal since the age of seven. After starring in the same Under-23 side that included Bukayo Saka, Joe Willock and Emile Smith Rowe, he went out on loan to Swindon only for a knee injury to curtail his progress.
Since then, though, he has bounced back to have two impressive loan spells. The first came with Blackpool where he helped the Tangerines secure promotion to the Championship, grabbing an assist in the League One playoff semi final victory over Oxford City. His second has been this season where he played a crucial part at the Den in a side that finished just six points outside of the Championship playoff places.
