On 7 April 1986, Graeme Souness was appointed as Rangers' first player-manager by chairman David Holmes. Souness had previously been playing in Italy with U.C. Sampdoria and made the move to Glasgow for a £300,000 fee. This was the first of many big money transfer deals to be made at Rangers. Although the first deal Souness was involved with was regarding his backroom staff. He brought in Walter Smith, from Dundee United as his assistant and ex-Coventry City manager Don Mackay as reserve-team coach.