Daniel Ballard has agreed to move to the Championship side Sunderland, after a move to Burnley fell through last week.
The 22-year-old was loaned out to Swindon Town and Blackpool before making 31 appearances in the Championship for Millwall last season.
The Northern Ireland international has never played in the first team for the Gunners and his time with the club is drawing to a close as he prepares to move north.
The Athletic report that Ballard almost joined Burnley a week ago but terms could not be agreed despite important talks.
People like former club Blackpool and Sheffield United were thought to be interested in the defender, but it is the newly promoted Sunderland who has won the race for his signature.
Despite never making the cut for Arsenal, Ballard has proven himself on the international stage, taking 15 caps for Northern Ireland and scoring two goals.
Former Northern Ireland defender Gareth McAuley thought Ballard was good enough to play in the Arsenal defense last season, especially after The Gunners got off to a disappointing start to the season.
“If I were Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta I would remember Daniel Ballard from his loan spell at Millwall and put the young Northern Ireland international on my struggling Gunners team,” he told the Belfast Telegraph in September last year.
“I know Daniel is not Mikel’s defender type – he probably doesn’t match his philosophy about how he wants to play the game – but maybe he should be with the way Arsenal started their season.
“Daniel just gets better and better with every match he plays, especially on the international stage.”
MORE : Ray Parlor calls ideal Arsenal signing and responds to Raphinha snub
MORE: Lucas Torreira says he has ‘no chance’ of staying at Arsenal this summer
For more stories like this, check out our sports page†
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news about
facebook, Twitter and Instagram†
