Sunderland are still sweating on the fitness of central defender Daniel Ballard after he was ruled unfit to play in Northern Ireland’s World Cup qualifier against Italy.
The 26-year-old star has been out of action since sustaining a hamstring injury in the 1-0 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on 14th March.
Ballard will have been gutted to miss out on his country’s 2-0 defeat to Italy in the play-off semi-final last Thursday, ending Northern Ireland’s chances of making the World Cup.
On a selfish note for the Black Cats, that means that the centre-back will not play as much football over the summer before the start of the 2026/27 campaign and will have a full pre-season with his club.
That is a boost for Regis Le Bris and his team because the former Arsenal defender has been in phenomenal form in the Premier League this season.
Analysing Dan Ballard’s start to life in the Premier League
Ballard signed for Sunderland from Arsenal in the summer of 2022, when the Black Cats were in the Championship, and had never played a game in the Premier League at that point.
His lack of experience at the top level meant that it was hard to assess whether or not he would be able to handle the step up in quality, but the Northern Irish brute has been a colossus for Le Bris this season.
The 26-year-old star, who has scored two goals, has won 62% of his ground duels and 59% of his aerial duels in the Premier League, which shows that he has been a dominant defender who has not allowed attackers to get the better of him too often.
Ballard’s soaring Transfermarkt value reflects how well he has adapted to the top-flight. He was valued at £7m in May 2025 and that has soared to £17m at the time of writing, which is a credit to how well he has performed this season.
The Northern Ireland international is not the only talent who has come up from the Championship and excelled in the Premier League, though, as another Black Cats star is now worth even more than the centre-back.
The Sunderland star who is worth even more than Ballard
Whilst Sunderland splashed the cash to bring in the likes of Granit Xhaka, Brian Brobbey, Nordi Mukiele, and Chemsdine Talbi last summer, Le Bris kept his faith in some of the players who earned promotion from the second tier.
Trai Hume is another one of the Championship heroes, alongside Ballard, who has made the step up to the Premier League and impressed with his performances.
The Northern Ireland international, who played in his country’s loss to Italy, has started 29 of his 31 appearances in the top-flight for the Black Cats this season, nailing down a regular place in the starting XI.
Hume first joined Sunderland in January 2022 when they were in League One, signing from Linfield for a fee of just £200k. Four years on from that transfer, it is fair to say that the club hit the jackpot.
Like Ballard, the 24-year-old star has shown that he can handle the physicality of the Premier League, winning 56% of his ground duels and 50% of his aerial duels at right-back this season.
|
25/26 Premier League |
Trai Hume |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
31 |
|
Tackles won |
56 |
|
Clearances made |
87 |
|
Duels won |
152 |
|
Ground duel success rate |
56% |
|
Aerial duel success rate |
50% |
Hume has been an impressive out-and-out defender for the Black Cats, whilst only delivering one assist, and has contributed to eight clean sheets in his 29 starts.
His Transfermarkt value has soared as a result of his journey through the leagues with Sunderland, going from League One, to the Championship, to the Premier League.
At the time of writing, Hume’s Transfermarkt value sits at roughly £19m. That is 9,400% more than the £200k fee that the club paid Linfield to sign him in 2022 and £2m more than Ballard is currently valued at.
This shows that Sunderland struck gold when they snapped the young Northern Irish defender up whilst they were in League One, as he has gone on to prove himself to be a capable performer in the Premier League within four years.
Ballard and Hume are living proof that clubs do not have to splash more than £10m on every single signing to land quality players, as there are bargains to be had out there.
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