Ballard emerged from the Saints’ youth ranks to sign his first professional contract with the south coast side in April 2022, having already featured in EFL Trophy action for Southampton’s Under-21s at the tender age of 16.

He went on to score on his first team debut, coming off the bench in the 75^th minute of a Carabao Cup win at Cambridge United last August and finding the back of the net within 13 minutes of his senior team bow.

Dom was handed his league debut by Selles at Southampton, coming off the bench against south coast rivals Brighton & Hove Albion in May.

And the young striker was given a cameo a week later in the final day 4-4 draw at home to Liverpool, an eight-goal thriller ending Southampton’s Premier League campaign last season.

In the Under-21 set-up at Southampton, Ballard was nominated for the Premier League 2 Player of the Year accolade after scoring 13 goals in 16 matches to help the Saints claim the Division Two title.

At the start of the 2023-24 season, the promising young forward was been firing on all cylinders; Ballard bagged back-to-back hat-tricks against Newcastle and Aston Villa respectively in Southampton Under-21s’ first two Premier League 2 matches of 2023-24.

That prompted his former Saints boss Rubén Sellés to bring him to RG2 on a season-long loan, where he would don the number 9 shirt for the campaign.

On the international scene, Ballard has represented England at Under-17 and Under-18 level – scoring three times for the latter in victories over the Faroe Islands and Belgium last season. He was also called into the England Under-19 squad for friendlies against Germany and Switzerland in September 2023.