A fee has reportedly been agreed between Aston Villa and Rangers which could see the Scottish champions re-united with former fans favourite Carlos Cuellar at Ibrox.
The Spaniard joined Villa for a fee of around £8m in 2008 and became popular with the Villa Park faithful almost instantaneously. Under then manager Martin O’Neill, Cuellar had to make do with a place at right-back for long periods of the Ulsterman’s reign at the club and despite performing admirably for the most part, has continued to be overlooked in his favoured centre-back role. Houllier opted for the centre-back pairing of Richard Dunne and James Collins for almost the entire season last year, despite a horrific defensive record, and Cuellar’s patience may well have come to an end.
It is now believed that a fee has been negotiated for the 29-year-old to return to Rangers having spent just one season in Scotland. His performances saw him pick up the SPL Player of the Year award, alerting the attention of Villa in the process, and the defender has never disappointed in claret and blue, despite being harshly treated in the opinion of most Villa fans.
A suggested fee of around £2m represents a near £6m loss and would be just as, if not more frustrating than the sale of the likes of Young and Downing in my opinion. Both of the departed duo wanted to leave the club whereas Cuellar has always insisted his happiness at Villa and desire to fight for his place. Young’s fee of around £16m was lower than one would have hoped but realistic due to his contract status and a £20m fee for Downing, although disappointing, was pretty good business financially. Meanwhile Cuellar, who has proven his quality when played, is set to leave for pennies and all this for a player who I believe is worthy of a starting berth. Not good.
Join the new Facebook group and follow our new Twitter page for regular updates on all things Villa at;
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aston-Villa-Blog/193085960709067
http://twitter.com/#!/astonvilla_blog
