Ianis Hagi has told Rangers fans that he’s ready to roll his sleeves up and fight for the club.
But that’s certainly not the impression the Romanian playmaker gave last summer, nor is it the same message he’s been sending since joining up with his country at Euro 2024.
Whilst we can’t fault Ianis Hagi for his attitude in the Rangers B team ranks, the situation with the playmaker stinks and doesn’t reflect well on any party involved.
But as the transfer window bottlenecks and Hagi’s representation get a little desperate, let’s revisit the last 12 months and compare it against Hagi’s very public appeal to stay in Glasgow.
Ianis Hagi makes public Rangers appeal on Instagram
Before we get into what’s been said in the past, here’s the latest on Ianis Hagi’s situation.
With the transfer window entering it’s final few days, Hagi has taken to Instagram to send a message to supporters and an appeal to Rangers about his status at the club.
In it, the Romanian playmaker insists that he’s never asked to leave Ibrox and that he’s fully committed to the cause if only the club will give him a chance.
The statement reads:
“I’ve been aware of the noise and speculation regarding my situation, my role and my contract in the club.
“I have loved playing for Rangers and the Ibrox fans since the moment I got here.
“I want to make it clear, I have never once asked to leave this football club.
“I will always make myself available, and there’s always a way to navigate around any situation if there’s a will on both sides and that was communicated officially weeks ago by me and my team.
“I’m here, willing, and Rangers Ready to help, work, and fight for the Club, Team and Manager.”
Public Ianis Hagi spat led to Rangers loan exit
There are a number of factors associated with Ianis Hagi’s situation at Rangers.
And not every party is blameless.
Singed in the summer of 2021, Rangers struck a structured £3m deal with Belgian side KRC Genk with the fee to be paid up in full with the help of add-ons.
With a serious knee injury striking Ianis Hagi in the January of 2022, the Romanian’s momentum at Ibrox was stopped dead and to his credit the kid worked his way back to full fitness.
But that wasn’t enough for Hagi who was desperate to play after 18 months on the sidelines, and despite being handed a new contract by Rangers, the attacking midfielder forced the club’s hand last summer.
Rangers signed Ianis Hagi down on a new three-year deal under the management of Michael Beale but the two clashed last August.
Beale had told Hagi he had to fight for his place at Rangers but Hagi wanted guarantees over minutes.
After playing in a League Cup clash with Greenock Morton in August 2023, Ianis Hagi came across understandably frustrated if not a little entitled.
Still building his fitness after injury, Hagi made a public appeal for minutes and publicly disagreed with Michael Beale’s decision-making.
“I’m disappointed in the situation that I am in,” said Hagi. “I respect the manager’s decision.
“Doesn’t mean I agree with him but I respect it. I just want to play football.”
And so the Romanian got his wish with Hagi saying an emotional goodbye to fans as he went out on loan to Alavés.
At the time, it certainly didn’t sound then like Hagi had any intention to come back.
Ianis Hagi’s summer intention to leave Ibrox
Things didn’t exactly work out as planned when Ianis Hagi moved to Deportivo Alavés last season.
The Romanian got opportunities in the early part of the loan switch but struggled to leave an impression on the team and eventually finished the loan out of the squad and out of ideas.
Heading into the summer there was plenty of conjecture over Hagi’s future and the Romanian was asked where he stood ahead of Euro 2024.
Hagi insisted there was ‘pressure’ on his agents to find a club and management that wanted to play him but didn’t rule out a return to Rangers.
“My focus is on the Euros,” Hagi said back in June. “I had talks with my agents and the pressure is on them.
“They know what I want for my future, it’s a pretty important summer for me from all points of view. I told them before going to the national team what I wanted.
“I expect them to work as well as possible, to find the right team and the right manager for me.
“I can’t say if I’ll be at Rangers or somewhere else. My future depends on my agents.”
In July, Hagi’s agent claimed they’d set the midfielder up for a sale.
Claiming that ‘it’s time’ for Hagi to move on, Giovanni Becali suggested there was plenty of interest in his client and that Rangers might command a fee for his services.
Moreover, Becali claimed Hagi was ‘about to leave’ Ibrox.
“Ianis has one year left on his contract with Glasgow Rangers,” said Becali. “I don’t know when he will, and if he will show up [for pre-season]. He’s about to leave.
“I’m also hearing left and right, that several teams would like him. Rangers may want to get something back on him. Ianis does not have a small salary with them. We’ll see, it’s time.”
Philippe Clement was then asked about Ianis Hagi’s future a month later and made pretty clear that all parties – the coaching staff, Hagi’s team and Rangers – agreed it was best for the Romanian to move on.
Clement has been clear throughout the window that Rangers need to free up wages with Hagi, quite simply, not delivering on what his high pay packet demands.
The Rangers manager also claimed that Hagi was also keen to leave Ibrox, although Hagi’s Instagram message suggests he’s changed his mind.
“No, we had clearly talked with him before the pre-season already, and with his agents, about that,” Clement told journalists in August.
“We need to look, like I said, 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.”
Clement even hinted that Rangers would be prepared to let a high-earner leave for free should it free up wages. It’s believed the Belgian was talking about Hagi.
Rangers playmaker’s Ibrox story reaches sad end
Rangers fans have since been caught in the middle with a player who is clearly popular with supporters but not rated by the club’s coaching staff.
At least not on the wages he’s currently receiving.
Reports have suggested that Hagi will activate a salary increase at Rangers if he plays any more games.
Rangers are working on a very tight budget with every penny a prisoner, so it does not make sense to activate this additional financial burden if Hagi is not going to play a key role in the team.
The fact the Romanian is stuck on 99 games for Rangers also points to one more match triggering a payment to Genk, although for the time being this is unconfirmed.
What is clear is that options are limited for Ianis Hagi away from Ibrox as things stand.
Once one of European football’s golden boys, Hagi’s representation and Ianis’s frustrated legendary father Gheorghe have been clear that they don’t want their player to take a step back.
This comes after Hagi turned down the chance to return to Romania with Rapid Bucharest.
With offers elsewhere not forthcoming, it’s left the entire thing at something of an impasse.
The grass is not always greener on the other side and whilst we feel for Hagi, perhaps he can look back on last season with some regret.
We understand that the attacking midfielder wanted to play more regularly after returning from injury but perhaps he had to put the team first then, rather than now, to salvage his Rangers career.
Hagi’s story at Rangers is very likely coming to an end in the next 48 hours. With those payment clauses attached it’s unlikely he’ll get another sniff in Glasgow.
With it all playing out in public too, alongside the situation with Todd Cantwell, Rangers fans will just be happy to put an end to the infighting which is hanging over Ibrox.
