Glasgow Rangers have come a long way in five years. In 2017 the Ibrox side was constantly chasing Celtic’s shadow when it came to domestic honours, and after qualifying for Europe for the first time since 2011, were knocked out shamefully against Luxemburg part-timers Progres Niederkorn in what was the club’s lowest ebb.
Fast forward five years and the Light Blues have won their 55th league title, claimed the Scottish Cup for the first time in 13 years while reaching, against all odds, a marvellous Europa League final. It was a stunning result that came only half a decade after the Progres debacle.
The club have also made excellent decisions in the transfer market, selling Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey for massive profits whilst also blooding youngsters into the first-team squad.
Five years ago, however, this was unheard of, with Portuguese manager Pedro Caixinha signing a host of misfits and wasting money left, right and centre, with one player, in particular, draining the Ibrox coffers more than most.
One of Rangers’ worst signings
Carlos Pena was signed by the former Gers manager in June 2017 for a fee of £2.2m and was expected to become one of the key members of the team going forward into the new campaign.
What followed over the next 18 months was a nightmare of epic proportions.
The Mexican only made 14 appearances for the club, scoring five goals, which cost the club approximately £440k per goal, before joining Cruz Azul on loan in January 2018, a mere six months after moving to Glasgow.
This was a player who had represented Mexico at the World Cup and with Caixinha looking to shake things up at Ibrox, Pena looked like he might add some much-needed quality in the final third. Sadly, he never cut it in European football and has to be considered a nightmare addition, especially for the price tag involved.
It was a colossal waste of money, and it took until Steven Gerrard arrived a year later for the club to start making smart transfer decisions again.
The 32-year-old has recently joined Honduran side C.D.S Vida and this marks the tenth club in his career he will have represented.
He may be well known and appreciated in his homeland, but if you utter the words, Carlos Pena, to any Rangers supporter, they will wince with embarrassment. It's safe to say Caixinha got this one incredibly wrong.