Arsenal could be set to profit from a sell-on clause as West Ham United show an interest in former Gunners defender Daniel Ballard.
The Evening Standard report that West Ham United are interested in Sunderland defender Daniel Ballard, who joined the Championship side in a £2m deal with Arsenal last summer.
The defender is also attracting interest from other clubs in England and abroad, but the Hammers seem particularly keen.
West Ham are in the hunt for a centre-back following the January departure of Craig Dawson, and David Moyes is also specifically looking to add homegrown players to his squad.
Ballard would fit the bill on both fronts, and the young Northern Ireland international is clearly highly rated.
Should Ballard move on to West Ham or elsewhere, Arsenal would be in line to profit from the deal.
According to Football.London, the Gunners negotiated a ‘significant’ sell-on clause into Ballard’s transfer last summer.
Though there was no official word on the exact percentage Arsenal had managed to negotiate, you’d expect to get further details on that if and when Ballard’s sale materialises.
With Arsenal making some significant moves in the market this summer, they’ll take all the help they can get with raising funds.
The likes of Kieran Tierney, Folarin Balogun, Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey, and Charlie Patino are more likely to provide the bulk of the money coming in, but there are certain to be some lower-profile deals as well.
Nikolaj Moller is the only confirmed sale of Arsenal’s summer so far, though Pablo Mari is also widely reported to be joining AC Monza for a fee of around £6m.
Ex-£1m Sunderland transfer target Josh Key set for medical at Championship rivals
The former Sunderland target is due to undergo a medical with a Championship club
Josh Key is set for a medical at Championship club Swansea City, according to reports.
The Black Cats are thought to have had several bids in the region of £1million rejected for the 24-year-old back in August 2021 although there wasn’t any suggestion that Kristjaan Speakman and Stuart Harvey remained interested during the current window.
Sky Sports News have now stated, however, that Key will now have a medical at Swansea City having left Exeter at the end of last season after his contract expired.
Key was offered a new deal at Exeter but chose to leave the club with the right-back looking likely to make the move to Wales on a free transfer. Exeter, though, will be due compensation given the player was developed at the club.
“We’ve offered both of those players the best contract we could, I think it looks like both of them are going to be moving on,” Exeter boss Gary Caldwell told EFL Debate about Key and teammate Archie Collins.
“As yet I haven’t had any contact with any other club for them, but they have intimated that they want to look and see what’s out there, which is fine.”
“They’ve been fantastic players for the club, they came through the academy and been there a long time,” added Caldwell.
“I think as a club we’ve sold players on, but it’s the next generations and who’s coming in behind then, what players can we sign this summer that are going to excite the fans again – that they have new heroes and new people that they can watch and support every week.
“If they do leave then we do wish them all the best, but as a club we always have to be looking to what’s next and how we move on from that.”
In other news, Sunderland have finalised their pre-season schedule with the announcement of another fixture following their return from the USA. The Black Cats have confirmed a friendly against Spanish side RCD Mallorca. Tony Mowbray’s men will host the La Liga outfit on Saturday 29 July at the Stadium of Light with kick-off at 3pm.
