Aston Villa v Rotherham: Dominic Ball will intensify competition, enthuses Alan Stubbs

The 21-year-old – who can play either centre-half or midfield – became the the ninth summer signing under Stubbs yesterday after signing a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. And the United boss believes Ball will provide healthy competition at the AESSEAL New York Stadium.

“We’re getting him at a great age,” Stubbs said.

“He’s 21 and he’s a young, talented defender who will give real competition for places here, which is what we want.

“We’ll get improvement out of the players that are already here because of the fact that they have players pushing them now.

“It was the same when I was playing as it makes you dig into your reserves to improve, and that’s what we want.

“Competition is a real healthy thing to have in the club and it’s something we’re striving to improve. Dominic will bring that.”

Ball came through the Spurs Academy and had spells at Cambridge United and Rangers, where he came to Stubb’s attention in his time in charge at Hibernian.

“First of all we’re delighted that we’ve managed to get the deal concluded and Dominic is a player I know quite a bit about from my time at Hibs with him playing at Rangers on loan from Tottenham,” Stubbs said.

“He did very well and I think any young player going into that environment at Rangers is a big ask, but he fitted into it very well and he was very comfortable with the situation. We’re delighted that we’ve managed to sign him.”

Ball played against Rotherham in a behind-closed-doors pre-season friendly.

“He’s a young, talented defender who is very comfortable on the ball and he’s got good pace and reads the game well and it’s a great signing for us,” continued Stubbs.

“Looking at him last season, with him going to Rangers and doing very well, we’re just delighted that we’ve managed to capture him.”