The ACL rupture Ianis Hagi suffered at the start of 2022 not only kept the Rangers playmaker out of action for 13 months, it also scuppered any hopes he may have harboured about reuniting with Steven Gerrard in the Premier League.
“He had a verbal agreement with Aston Villa,” a source tells Romanian publication ProSport. “If that bad luck had not occurred, he would now be playing in the Premier League, in England.”
But, after making his long-awaited return under Mick Beale recently, a summer of speculation could still be on the cards. ProSport, after all, claim that there are now Bundesliga clubs keeping tabs on Hagi, in the hope that a man who scored eight goals and set up 15 more in 2020/21 can rediscover that very same form after over a year on the sidelines.
“Now, Ianis has a new opportunity on the horizon,” ProSport write. “Those from Borussia Monchengladbach have expressed their interest, through intermediaries. And the scouts of the Bundesliga club will follow him in the coming period.”
Rangers’ Ianis Hagi is a Borussia Monchengladbach target
Assuming, for a moment, that rumours of ‘Gladbach’s interest are true. Hagi could have very big shoes to fill at Borussia Park. It’s not quite David Moyes following Sir Alex Ferguson. But Lars Stindl, the man Hagi is likely to replace, is not just a fans’ favourite but a modern-day, bonafide Monchengladbach legend.
The Germany international has spent almost a decade at Gladbach. He’s played nearly 300 games, scoring 80 goals, while wearing the captain’s armband with an enormous of pride. A leader both on and off the pitch, Stindl remains an integral part of Daniel Farke’s set-up even as his 35th birthday approaches.
In an inconsistent season, Stindl’s six goals and nine assists from attacking midfield have stood out.
The veteran’s contract expires in July. BILD say that Stindl is edging towards leaving on a free. Potentially in favour of winding down his outstanding career back at Karlsruhe; the club he joined as a wide-eyed youngster all the way back in the year 2000.
Should Hagi arrive, he would be expected to slot into the playmaking role Stindl has made his own over the last eight years. No pressure, then.
