The late great Walter Smith enjoyed fantastic success at Glasgow Rangers, winning countless domestic honours while also coming close to leading the Ibrox side to the inaugural Champions League final in 1993 before managing the team to an unlikely UEFA final in 2008.
He enjoyed plenty of success in the transfer market too, although there were a few duds throughout his time, but overall, Smith managed to bring the best out of the majority of his new signings and some even sold for big money after a few years.
Once such example is Carlos Cuellar, who joined the Light Blues from La Liga side CA Osasuna in the summer of 2007 before Smith’s first full season during his second stint in charge of the club and he cost just £2m.
How much did Rangers sell Carlos Cuellar for?
During the second half of the 2006/2007 campaign, Smith took over from Paul le Guen and led the Gers to the last 16 of the UEFA Cup, where they faced Osasuna.
The Spanish defender acquitted himself well as they went through to the quarter-finals due to a 2-1 aggregate victory, and the manager was clearly impressed enough to sign him that summer.
He claimed Cuellar would be an “excellent” signing as he “impressed” on the continent, especially against Rangers and the man who brought the likes of Brian Laudrup and Paul Gascoigne to Glasgow in the 1990s was rarely wrong when it came to recruitment.
The Spaniard proved to be a truly wonderful addition to the Rangers squad who were so close to winning an unprecedented quadruple, claiming glory in the Scottish and League Cups, yet losing the league title on the final day and going down 2-0 in Manchester against Zenit St Petersburg in the UEFA Cup final.
Cuellar went on to play a staggering 65 times for the club in all competitions during 2007/2008, chipping in with four goals as he formed a formidable partnership with David Weir at the heart of the defence which was integral to their success.
This form didn’t go unnoticed and Aston Villa tested their resolve with a bid of £7.8m for the centre-back in the summer of 2008 which was reluctantly accepted, and he was off to the Premier League to test himself against the very best.
Not many players have as a big an impact as Cuellar did during his only season in Glasgow, however he has since gone down as a cult hero figure and Smith certainly struck gold with the 6 foot 3 Spanish titan back in 2007.