The year is 2020, Rangers are just about hanging on in the title race and then one of Europe’s most talked about young players arrives at the club – Ianis Hagi.
Steven Gerrard’s reputation as a player was enough to see a recent Golden Boy nominee head to Ibrox, unfortunately, the squad wasn’t up to a similar standard and Covid also intervened in seeing the title evade the Gers boss for another season.
There was though, one moment that Rangers fans will never forget with Ianis Hagi front and centre for one of Ibrox’s most memorable nights.
Special Rangers memory sees Ianis Hagi take to social media
Gerrard had tried to sign Matej Vydra, a player who could have made a genuine difference at the sharp end of the pitch but Burnley couldn’t find a replacement to bring in.
Instead, we had to make do with Florian Kamberi who, despite the effort, was never going to fire us to the league title.
Ianis Hagi was a bolt from the blue though, football fanatics amongst the Rangers support had seen him bully a quality England side in the previous summer’s Under-21 European Championships.
He seemed to be the playmaker that had been missing and the bit of stardust needed to provide moments of magic.
And, against Braga on that famous night, by his is exactly what he did.
At 2-0 down, Rangers looked down and out – away goals still mattered remember – until Hagi cut inside with a little over 20 minutes left to give the packed crowd some hope.
Then, Joe Aribo went on a run that ended with one of the club’s finest ever European goals to level the tie.
Just 15 minutes after scoring his first, Hagi was at it again, scoring a deflected free-kick that sent the home fans wild.
Hagi had announced himself as a fan favourite which was only confirmed with his “Ibrox baby, it’s just different” interview.
A memory he obviously still holds dear as his post on X yesterday proves.
The comeback was complete and a Ryan Kent goal in the away leg was enough to seal progress to the last 16.
Todd Cantwell seems to have assumed the role that Ianis Hagi used to perform for Rangers but, having spent most of his time on the right-hand side of the attack, there could be room for both of them.
You can never have enough match winners in a team and, for all his flaws, Hagi still has Braga in his locker.
