Carlos Cuéllar

Carlos Cuéllar

Personal information
Full name	Carlos Javier Cuéllar Jiménez
Date of birth	23 August 1981 (1981-08-23)
Place of birth	Madrid, Spain
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Centre back, Right back
Club information
Current club	Aston Villa
Number	24
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2000–2001	Calahorra	19	(0)
2001–2003	Numancia	62	(4)
2003–2007	Osasuna	71	(2)
2007–2008	Rangers	36	(4)
2008–	Aston Villa	88	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10 March 2012. † Appearances (Goals).

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Cuéllar and the second or maternal family name is Jiménez.

Carlos Javier Cuéllar Jiménez (born 23 August 1981) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Aston Villa. He is primarily a central defender, but can also operate as a right back or left back.

Club career

Early career

Born in Madrid, Cuéllar began his career in Madrid playing at regional teams like C.D.Pegaso and San Federico, to sign below for fourth level side CD Calahorra, upgrading two levels in 2001, as he joined CD Numancia.

He spent two seasons at Soria and, after a solid second year, moved to CA Osasuna in the top level. He became an important part of the Javier Aguirre side that reached the Copa del Rey final in 2005 and finished fourth in the league in the following season, thus qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.

As Osasuna "dropped" to the UEFA Cup Cuéllar, by then not an automatic first-choice in the league, played seven times in European competition, as the Navarrese reached the semifinals. He scored twice, notably in the 3–0 win at the BayArena against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in April 2007, which was the fastest goal of the tournament that season.

Rangers

Scottish club Rangers made two offers for Cuéllar in June 2007 that were rejected by Osasuna, but the eventual transfer was completed on 5 July, for a fee of £2.37 million. He signed a four-year contract, worth a reported £15,000 per week, and made his competitive Rangers debut against FK Zeta on 31 July 2007, in a 2–0 victory. After impressing early in the season, Cuéllar was awarded the Clydesdale Bank Premier League Player of the Month award for August 2007. He scored his first Rangers goal on September 1, 2007, during a 4–0 defeat of Gretna FC.

Cuéllar continued to play well for Rangers, but he was sent off during a critical Old Firm match for handling a goal-bound Shunsuke Nakamura shot. The resultant penalty kick was saved by Allan McGregor. As personal reward for what was an outstanding season, Cuéllar collected the Clydesdale Bank SPL Player of the Year award and was named the Scottish Football Writers Associations Player of the Year. At the event, he was quoted as saying "I want to stay at Rangers for life." Following the departure of Thomas Buffel during the summer, Cuéllar was handed the number 4 shirt for the 2008–09 season, but never wore it as he was injured for the first game against Falkirk and transferred to Aston Villa just days later. He made a total of 65 appearances for Rangers, a club record for a single season and scored 5 goals.

Aston Villa

On 12 August 2008, Premier League side Aston Villa signed Cuéllar in a deal worth £7.8 million on a four-year contract. Villa's offer had triggered a release-clause in Cuéllar's Rangers contract. He was given the squad number 24, which he also wore at his previous club. Cuéllar made his official first team début on 18 September in the 3–1 UEFA Cup first round victory against PFC Litex Lovech in Bulgaria. His made his first league appearance for Aston Villa in the West Midlands Derby match against West Bromwich Albion on 21 September. Cuéllar came on as a late substitute in a match which Aston Villa won 2–1. His first league start came against Portsmouth on 19 October 2008, where he however operated as a right back. Most of Cuéllar's league appearances during his first season were in that position, due to the good form in the central partnership of Curtis Davies and Martin Laursen.

Cuéllar performed for Villa at the 2009 Peace Cup in his homeland. He went on to score the winning penalty in the final where Juventus went down 4–3 in a shootout to Villa.

He scored his first goal for Villa against Bolton Wanderers on 7 November 2009 at Villa Park. His second goal for the Villa came against Manchester United on 10 February 2010, opening the scoring with a header.

Aston Villa accepted an offer from Cuellar's old club Rangers in the summer of 2011 but the player was injured and the move broke down. Cuellar then insisted that he had would have loved a dream move back to the SPL Champions.

In February 2012, Cuellar announced that he would be willing to play anywhere on the pitch if it was good for the team. He then started against Manchester City at left back ahead of Warnock

Honours

Osasuna

• Copa del Rey: Runner-up 2005

Rangers F.C

• Scottish League Cup: 2007–08
• Scottish Cup: 2007–08
• UEFA Cup : Runner-up: 2007–08

Aston Villa

• Peace Cup: Winner 2009
• League Cup: Runner-up 2010

Individual

• Clydesdale Bank SPL Player of the Year: 2007–08
• SFWA Footballer of the Year: 2007–08

External links

• Carlos Cuéllar official website
• Carlos Cuéllar on Twitter
• BDFutbol profile
• Carlos Cuéllar career stats at Soccerbase