This is not the first time a Rangers player has been told to consider a change of scenery if he is to nail down a place in the national team picture.
Scotland boss Steve Clarke admitted back in November that, as highly as he regarded Robby McCrorie, there would not be space in his roster for the goalkeeper until he had escaped from Jack Butland’s shadow at Ibrox.
Clarke’s comments were likely still ringing in McCrorie’s ears when he put pen to paper at Kilmarnock in the subsequent summer window.
It is Ianis Hagi, meanwhile, who now finds himself in limbo.
Out of Philippe Clement’s plans and out of his squad alongside the similarly-exiled Todd Cantwell, things are not getting any easier for a man who has endured a miserable time of it since suffering that career-stalling knee injury two years ago.
Rangers want to get rid of Ianis Hagi
According to Tuttomercatoweb, Rangers would even be willing to terminate Hagi’s contract and let him leave for free. Rumoured moves to the likes of Fiorentina and Fenerbahce have not come to fruition.
And with just over a week left before the window closes, Rangers are fast running out of time if they wanted to have any hope of striking a permanent deal and recouping some of their £3 million investment.
Staying at Ibrox, meanwhile, would be a personal disaster, especially for Hagi’s hopes of maintaining his place in the Romanian national team.
The former Genk starlet is part of Romania’s preliminary squad for this month’s Nations League fixtures with Kosovo and Lithuania. But his place in the roster is hanging by a thread.
Another few months in Rangers’ B team will quickly see him tumble down the Tricolorii pecking order.
“Always after a tournament, there are players who want to change clubs and run down their contracts out of desire for the better,” Romania’s extremely experienced new head coach Mircea Lucescu says, via Fanatik.
“Regardless of the name, it is not easy to summon an unprepared player. No way (will I continue to include those).”
Hagi did feature at Euro 2024 but only briefly, losing his place in the Romania XI after a difficult loan spell with Deportivo Alaves in La Liga.
Former while the Inter Milan, Galatasaray and Shakhtar Donetsk boss sympathises with Hagi’s situation, Lucescu’s patience only goes so far.
“Only players who are present on the field will perform with the national team,” the 79-year-old tactician adds.
“Big changes cannot be made (so early into my tenure). I will go with the same group but, along the way I will certainly make changes. There are problems.”
Philippe Clement has no place for £3m man at Ibrox
The Turkey-born Hagi was conspicuous by his absence once again as Rangers edged past St Johnstone to reach the Scottish League Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
“No,” Clement said a few weeks back when asked if Hagi would have a part to play in his plans for 2024/25, via Rangers’ official YouTube channel. “We had clearly talked with him before the pre-season already, and with his agents, about that.
“We need to look at a lot of things with the club. About wages, about how many players you can have in a position, with the budget we have, and to get a budget to make transfers.
“It was really clear that the idea is to sell. That’s what he wanted also. So, that’s the clear situation.”
