Player #886 for Aston Villa, André Jay Green known as André Green played as a winger for the club between the 2015-16 and 2018-19 seasons, making 48 appearances and scoring once.

André was born in Solihull on 2 May 1998

André had signed professional forms with Villa in July 2014 after coming through the youth team ranks and was promoted to the first team squad by Rémi Garde during his short spell as Villa boss in 2016.

André made his first squad appearance in the 1-2 Premier League defeat at Stoke City on Saturday, 27 February 2016 but did not make it onto the pitch however the following month André was once again named in the first team squad and made his debut aged, 17, as a 62’ substitute for Jordan Veretout in Villa’s 0-2 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

The following game on Saturday, 19 March 2016, André once again replaced Jordan Veretout in the 61’ however that would be his last of two appearances for Villa in the 2015-16 as Villa were relegated from the Premier League for the first time in their history.

Despite Villa’s problems, André was a bright spot, having been billed as Villa’s next big thing from early in his career, as a result anticipation was high as to the potential impact André could make in the second tier in a squad made up of less talented and committed journeymen.

Villa’s 2016-17 Football League Championship season began with André as a regular in the match-day squad and a new manager, Roberto Di Matteo. André appeared in each of Villa’s first five Championship games as a substitute under Di Matteo however soon disappeared from view and would only re-emerge in the squad as an unused substitute after Di Matteo’s departure and new boss Steve Bruce’s arrival in October 2016.

It wouldn’t be until Saturday, 14 January 2017 that André would return to the Villa squad for a league match and make an appearance - as a 67’ substitute for Albert Adomah in the 0-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

André made his first League start under Bruce, and first League start for Villa, in the 2-2 draw with Preston North End on Saturday, 21 January 2017 and would go on to make 3 further starts that season to have accumulated 12 substitute appearances and five starts under two managers in a fitful 2016-17 campaign in which Villa struggled to adjust to life in the second tier.

2017-18 arrived with the overhaul of the Villa squad largely complete and the last remnants of the hapless squad of 2015-16 mostly gone. André however remained and still had great expectation placed upon his potential and once again started the season as a squad regular - making 4 league starts and 1 substitute appearance in Villa’s first 6 Championship games. Injury however struck and André would just make a single appearance across the remainder of the campaign between Tuesday, 12 September 2017 and Saturday, 26 May 2018 in the FA Cup on Saturday, 6 January 2018.

In doing so André missed out on Villa’s run to their first, although ultimately unsuccessful, Play Off Final despite high hopes that he would recover from injury and regain fitness, form and favour to play a decisive role in Villa’s attempt to regain their top flight status.

2018-19 began in the same fashion as André’s previous seasons, playing in all of Villa’s first four League games before being sent out on loan by Steve Bruce to Portsmouth for the remainder of the season. Injury however hampered André’s development at Portsmouth and by the time he was recalled to Villa - in January 2019 - Steve Bruce was gone and his replacement Dean Smith was in the manager’s seat at Villa Park.

Smith’s more attacking, possession based footballing philosophy suggested a more comfortable home for André’s talents and so it proved with Smith naming André in his first squad after returning - coming on as a 59’ substitute for Yannick Bolasie in Villa’s 2-2 draw with Hull City on Saturday, 19 January 2019.

That appearance, despite a short injury hiatus, proved a catalyst for André and he went on to be named in every one of Smith’s squads to the end of the regular Championship season making 13 appearances, including 7 starts as Villa went on a record run of 10 consecutive league wins to secure their place in the Play Offs for the second successive season. During which time André scored his first goal for Villa in the 3-3 Championship draw against Sheffield United on Friday, 8 February 2019

André played in all three Play Off games including coming on as a 73’ substitute for Albert Adomah in Villa’s 2-1 Wembley victory over Derby County on Monday, 27 May 2019 that secured Villa’s return to the top flight after three seasons away.

Following the excellent and exciting end to the season and André’s best run of form in the Villa side coinciding with a record run of success and a new invigorating style of football under Dean Smith, hopes were high that local boy André could finally make good on his promise and follow Jack Grealish into the first team spot light.

Whilst it wasn’t a surprise that Dean Smith decided that André could benefit from a loan spell during Villa’s Premier League return it was a disappointment to see André not given a chance to continue his development in the top flight.

André was initially sent out on loan to Preston North End from August 2019 to the end of the year and was then immediately loaned out again to Charlton Athletic from the new year to the season end. With Anwar El Ghazi and new arrivals Trézéguet and Jota vying for the wing positions, André was pushed out and it is a moot point as to whether he could have had a greater impact than his rivals in Villa’s difficult return to the Premier League.

Although his loans away weren’t a surprise, what happened next certainly was.

André was released by Villa at the end of his contract aged just 22 having made his final appearance for the club in the 2018-19 Play Off Final on Monday, 27 May 2019.

In total André had made 48 appearances and scored once over his five seasons with Villa and played under Rémi Garde, Roberto Di Matteo, Steve Bruce and Dean Smith.

To the surprise of many, following his release by Villa, as of the end of 2020 André remained without a club before joining Championship side Sheffield Wednesday on a free transfer in January 2021.