This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Burnley are closing in on their first signing of the Vincent Kompany era after having a £2 million bid for Arsenal centre-back Dan Ballard accepted, according to Football Insider.

Kompany has been left with a serious rebuilding job on his hands, especially in defence, following the departures of James Tarkowski and Ben Mee, and has already had offers rejected for Oxford United's Luke McNally.

Now though, a breakthrough appears to have occurred in the Belgian's search, with Ballard set to arrive if personal terms are agreed and a medical is passed.

 

 

 

 

The Northern Ireland international has spent the last two seasons on loan at Blackpool and Millwall, appearing 31 times in the Championship during the 2021-22 season for the Lions.

Would he be a good addition for the Clarets though? We asked the FLW team for their thoughts...

Chris Gallagher

This is an excellent signing - particularly for the price.

Ballard has shown with Millwall and Northern Ireland that he is a very good defender in the sense that he's physically dominant and aggressive. 

Yet, he is also decent in possession, even if it's an area he can improve, and he's still very young at 22, so has the potential to get even better.

So, to get a player like that for just £2 million is a no-brainer and you would expect him to slot in easily to Burnley's defence when the season begins.

Centre-backs were obviously a priority given Ben Mee and James Tarkowski have left, so this solves a problem position and gives the Clarets a player who could be key to the team for the years to come.

Toby Wilding

This does look as though it could be a rather useful signing for Burnley.

The departures of Ben Mee and James Tarkowski, as well as the interest in Nathan Collins, means that the club will need to add to their options at centre back this summer.

Ballard provides them with a useful option to fill that role, who has shown throughout his time on loan with Millwall last season that he is more than capable of doing a job at Championship level.

A fee of £2million also feels as though it should be affordable for a club coming down from the Premier League with the parachute payments they will receive, so this could prove to be a decent signing if Burnley can get it done.

Simmey Hannifin-Donaldson

I think this is a good signing for Burnley and at a good price, too.

Dan Ballard showed that he is a very capable centre-half at this level last campaign on loan at Millwall, and you can certainly see why Vincent Kompany has made a move for him.

Burnley are desperately lacking options in the position at the moment with the likes of James Tarkowski and Ben Mee departing Turf Moor at the end of their contracts, and there could be further departures with  transfer interest in Nathan Collins.

Indeed, Ballard for £2 million is a shrewd acquisition for the club given their circumstances, and it will be interesting to see who lines up alongside him next season.