West Ham United pose 'biggest threat' to Sunderland's plans to keep Dan Ballard

West Ham are seen as the "biggest threat" to Sunderland's hopes of keeping hold of defender Dan Ballard, according to Luke Phelps.

The Sports Illustrated journalist reported on 2 August that the Black Cats have opened up contract talks with the 23-year-old as they look to fend off Premier League interest.

Phelps said the Hammers pose the "biggest threat" to the Championship club keeping the Northern Ireland international, who his former Blackpool boss Neil Critchley referred to as "outstanding".

Uninspiring

This is a largely uninspiring bit of transfer news for West Ham fans to hear as they are craving new signings following the club's failures in the window so far.

There is no doubt that David Moyes needs to strengthen his side in a number of areas this summer, but this just doesn't quite feel like the right kind of deal to deliver on that.

Ballard has attracted admirers for putting together some decent performances in a Sunderland shirt since from Arsenal last year, but he hasn't been pulling up any trees in his 19 appearances at the Stadium of Light.

The Hammers currently have a decent core unit of centre-backs and it seems incredibly unlikely that he would ever be able to break through that and gain many minutes.

Although a signing would certainly be welcome, we need to be aiming higher if the club is really serious about continuing to progress forwards.

In other West Ham news, one Man United midfielder appears to be back on the club's radar.