Sheffield Wednesday have confirmed the capture of free agent Andre Green after his departure from Premier League club Aston Villa in the summer.

The 22-year-old has a good amount of experience in the Championship with Villa, Preston North End and Charlton, which Wednesday will need to call on for the second half of the season as they battle relegation.

Green is naturally a winger but can also play up-front as he did at times for the Addicks, but he will more-than likely provide competition to the likes of Adam Reach and Kadeem Harris.

With Wednesday still manager-less following the sacking of Tony Pulis last month, it remains to be seen whether or not Green will get regular game-time as whoever the new man at the helm will be may not fancy his talents on the pitch.

Now that his signing is confirmed, let's look at TWO knock-on effects for the Wednesday.

Permanent abandonment of three-at-the-back formation

Whoever the manager has been this season, whether it be Garry Monk or Pulis, a three centre-back formation has been pretty consistent in the league, being used 16 times in 21 games before the Middlesbrough win last week (transfermarkt), which was Neil Thompson's first game in charge as caretaker boss.

Thompson himself used a 3-5-2 for the Boro game, but switched to a 4-4-1-1 in the victory over Derby County, which may be a sign of things to come, especially with the signing of a new winger in Green.

There's no sign of an immediate new appointment at Hillsborough - Thompson himself could get the gig on a full-time basis - but to get the best out of Green any manager will probably need to get rid of the wing-back systems for good and go for two wingers instead.

 

Did Sheffield Wednesday sign each of these 14 players for more or less than £1 million?

 

 

Potential Adam Reach departure

Adam Reach Sheffield Wed

The length of Green's contract hasn't been disclosed, but he could end up being a long-term replacement for Reach, whose deal is set to expire at the end of the current campaign.

Interest from Scottish Premiership sides Rangers and Celtic has emerged recently and the 27-year-old can sign a pre-contract agreement this month with any club that isn't based in the English leagues.

If Reach was serious about sticking about with Wednesday then he probably would have extended his contract by now, but the threat of relegation and the club's inconsistency in paying players on time may have put the winger off.