It appears that a lot of people were slow on the uptake with regards to the balletic, brutal brilliance of Rangers’ most unexpected of talismen.
Firstly, Mick Beale farmed him out on loan shortly before Philippe Clement arrived to take the former manager’s place in the dugout. Rangers also backed Beale with a £3 million swoop for Sam Lammers that very same summer.
And while Clement insists that the situation was ‘out of my hands’ when a contract issue forced Ianis Hagi onto the fringes at Ibrox, the Rangers boss didn’t exactly fight the Romanian’s corner with a great deal of gusto.
In fact, Clement appeared to be driving the attempt to get him out the door, with reports claiming that Rangers considered tearing up Hagi’s contract. Thank God they failed. Thank God Rangers found a solution to that contract wrangle.
Because the stats speak for themselves. During Hagi’s absence during the first few months of 2024/25, Rangers posted a win rate of 62 per cent in the Scottish Premiership. From the beginning of December onwards, when Hagi made his belated first start of the campaign, Rangers can point to a win percentage of 75.
They averaged 1.5 goals per game without him, and a hugely-inflated 2.6 with him. As if his dazzling performances were not proof enough, just marvel at the numbers.
Paul Slane, the one-time Celtic and Motherwell midfielder who now works as a pundit in the Scottish game, has been taken aback not only by the extent of Hagi’s impact since being parachuted back into the starting XI, but by the sheer level of talent the Romanian exudes.
Well, he is Gheorghe’s son after all. The apple, as they say, does not tend to stray too far from the tree.
“I knew he was a good player, technically,” Slane admits. “[But] I didn’t realise he was as good as this!”
There has never been any real doubt about Ianis Hagi’s quality.
His story is sorry reminder as to how the fickle world of football can turn so cruelly against a footballer upon whom the drizzle becomes a downpour, and then becomes a veritable monsoon of misery.
Hagi missed a year of action after undergoing knee surgery in 2021. He struggled to rediscover his form after that, and soon enough found himself wallowing away on the bench at Deportivo Alaves. To make matters worse, when he returned to Ibrox, he was quickly removed from first-team contention, demoted to the reserves, and even suffered the ignominy of losing his number seven shirt to Oscar Cortes.
Kris Boyd backs Ianis Hagi to earn a big move if he leaves Ibrox
Hagi’s future is still less than certain as his contract winds down.
But as Kris Boyd gives Rangers’ resurgent Romanian ‘enormous credit’ for the way he has fought his way back, Hagi has at least re-claimed control over his fate after letting his football do the talking.
“You have got to give Ianis Hagi enormous credit,” Boyd argues. “It would have been quite easy for him to down tools and switch off and see his contract out.
“He might well move on [in the summer]. But he’s going to get himself a better more than he would have a few months ago if he does move on because he’s turned up, he’s worked ever so hard to make the impact he has.”
