Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has no doubt that Ashley Young is worth the fee he came for at Villa Park.

The Villans signed the England Under-21 attacker from Watford in January for an initial £8million fee, that could rise to a club record £9.65m.

The 22-year-old has showed his class in his brief Villa career so far after scoring on his debut against Newcastle United in January.

O'Neill said: "I would have liked to have paid less for Ashley in January but over the course of the next three or four years, he will prove worth every penny of the fee.

"I genuinely think that. It is not just because I paid for him and want to try to justify it. Hopefully the justification will come in the next couple of seasons.

"I expected him to take some time to settle down after coming here. It wouldn't have mattered whether he cost us £200,000 or £8m, I would have still said the same thing.

"For him to have come in and taken the place by storm straight away would have been asking an awful lot. I've got no question that Ashley Young will be brilliant for us and he has been in good form in the build-up to this season. There is no question that he will be a top-quality player for us."