£2m Sunderland star reveals Burnley transfer interest and Vincent Kompany compliment

Dan Ballard has spoken about Burnley's transfer interest in him before the former Arsenal defender decided to join Sunderland last summer.

The Northern Ireland international showed real quality alongside defensive partner Danny Batth during his first season on Wearside but was unfortunately limited to just 19 Championship appearances owing to injuries.

The first, a broken foot, kept Ballard out for several months at the beginning of the campaign, with a hamstring issue hindering the former Arsenal man's progress towards the back end of the season.

Ballard joined Sunderland in the summer of last season following loans at Blackpool and Millwall for a reported £2million transfer package with eventual Championship winners Burnley extremely keen on a deal too.

"He was very complimentary," Ballard said of Clarets' manager Vincent Kompany to The Athletic. "He said it was one of the positions he wanted to nail down and felt I could perform what he wanted to do on the ball.

"Burnley had just gone down from the Premier League and Sunderland had just come up from League One but I felt I could play more of a pivotal role at Sunderland. Burnley had a great season but I feel that I am a big part of the team."

On Sunderland head coach Tony Mowbray, Ballard added: "His man-management is his big strength. We all feel like he's backing us and he gives us that confidence to play freely.

"The football we played is a really good watch. He knows we've got great technical players and he plays to our strengths."