Carlos Cuellar
Nationality :
Spanish
Date of Birth :
23/08/1981
Height :
6' 3" (190cm)
Weight :
13st 3lbs (84.0kg)
Squad Number :
24
Previous Clubs :
Rangers, Osasuna
Position :
Defender
Carlos Cuellar will once again be looking to make a centre-half slot his own, as he battles Richard Dunne, James Collins and Ciaran Clark for the privilege of putting on that claret and blue shirt in 2011-12.
He will certainly have earnt it as he had to work so, so hard over the pre-season period to recover from the bad news of the previous campaign, when he went under the knife following a knee injury.
But, undeterred, the Spaniard worked his socks off to have a chance of impressing Alex McLeish.
The previous campaign was a little bit stop-start for the popular tweeter.
The avid social media fan played several games for Gerard Houllier in 2010-11 but never managed to make one of the two stopping spots his own.
His finest performance came in the 2-1 away win over Wolves in September 2010.
Cuellar arrived at Villa Park on the back of some rave reviews - and Villa supporters began to see what all the fuss was about.
After a first season of bedding in to life in claret and blue, the super Spaniard came to prominence in 2009-10 with some rock solid displays, both at right-back and his natural centre-back spot.
While Cuellar was accomplished at the back, he also made his mark at the other end of the pitch too.
His headed strike in a 5-1 win over Bolton in November 2009 was his first since arriving from Glasgow Rangers 15 months earlier.
A few weeks later, Cuellar produced a titanic performance to keep Tottenham Hotspur at bay in a 1-1 draw at Villa Park.
He continued to provide an attacking threat with goals against Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup and Manchester United in the league.
Cuellar made a name for himself in his homeland with La Liga outfit Osasuna, before being snapped up by Rangers in 2007.
While he spent just one season at Ibrox, it was a huge success - winning the Scottish Cup and League Cup, as well as reaching the UEFA Cup final where Rangers were beaten by Zenit St Petersburg.
His role in that impressive campaign earned him the SPL Player of the Year and Scottish Football Writers' Association Player of the Year awards.
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