Carlos Cuellar has revealed Martin O'Neill's cheeky words after he signed for Aston Villa in 2008.

The former Gers defender penned a four-year deal with O'Neil's side after a £7.5million transfer had been agreed with the Ibrox club.

Speaking to the Coaches Voice, he said: “My feelings on the day of signing with Villa were very strange. On the one hand, it was one of the happiest days of my life – but it was also one of the saddest.

"Everything had been perfect at Rangers. It was very hard for me to leave the club, and everything else that came with playing there, but the Premier League was a step I had always dreamed of taking.

“One of the moments I remember with particular fondness is the first day I met Martin O’Neill, Villa’s manager – and a former Celtic manager too. Martin told me he was doubly pleased to have hired me: “One, because you are here, and two, because I’ve taken the best player away from Celtic’s main rivals!” That speaks for the closeness he had with me from day one.”

Cueller loved his time in Scotland and he was particularly fond of facing off against Celtic.

He continued: "Everything at Rangers was very different from what I had experienced before. Not only because of the language, but also because my whole life there revolved around football. I had breakfast, lunch and even dinner at the team’s facilities every day. Outside the club, it was also all about football. The fans showed me a lot of affection.

"I remember, shortly after my arrival, I had a song that was being chanted in the stands. It was about my curly hair and my teeth, which at the time were rather out of place. After a few months, I had several songs.

"The atmosphere at games in Scotland was, and is, incredible. Especially the Old Firm derby against Celtic. It’s just amazing. I can’t find any other way to describe it. As I always say, I’ve been lucky enough to play in a lot of derbies in my playing career, but I still think the Old Firm is the biggest. And the first one I played in, we won 3-0!

"It was a spectacular season in every way. The team won two of the three cup competitions it played in: the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup. We just missed out on winning the UEFA Cup, too, losing 2-0 to Zenit in the final (below). That was a bitter feeling, because even though Zenit had knocked Bayern Munich out in the semi finals, winning the home leg 4-0, we felt it was a winnable final."