Rangers hit a new low on Tuesday night when they suffered a 3-1 home defeat against Ajax in their final Champions League encounter. They are now the worst-performing side in the competition’s history with six defeats out of six group-stage encounters along with a -20 goal difference. Their lack of intent in the transfer market cost them severely, whereas the fear of losing an array of first-team stars is also looming large with ex-Romania international Ilie Dumitrescu tipping fellow countryman Ianis Hagi to part ways in the forthcoming future.
“He can play in any league. If he can play in Scotland, he can do it in the Premier League without any problem. He is an indisputable leader. Ianis and I talk a lot, he is very strong mentally, he will be even stronger. He works very hard.”
The former Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United winger told ProSport as he expects the 24-year-old to make a Premier League move one day.
Hagi has been a subject of interest from Galatasaray for quite some time as the Turkish giants tabled an offer of around £6m for the midfield attacker. His father, Gheorghe, earned legendary status at Gala before calling it a day and the youngster, too, could have followed in similar footsteps if a move had happened a few months back.
Meanwhile, the Rangers star is expected to be sidelined for a year having suffered a severe knee injury back in January. He is not going to feature again in 2022 and the Gers have utterly struggled in his absence under Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Hagi’s creative spark as a ‘number 10’ made a lot of difference. Also, his flexibility down the flanks saw him securing an integral status during Steven Gerrard’s regime.
Why Rangers Must Keep Hold Of Hagi
The attacker, however, eventually settled in as a ‘number 10’. Gio’s 4-2-3-1 was heavily reliant on the Romanian and the likes of Tom Lawrence and Malik Tillman could not emulate his success in recent months. Despite an immediate impact, Lawrence endured an injury misfortune that ruled him out until after the World Cup. Tillman is a young gun with bags of potential, but he needs to find consistency and rhythm in his game to shine in Rangers colours.
Academy prospect Alex Lowry enjoyed a productive spell towards the closure of the previous term. While he is back in action for the reserves, an injury early into the campaign refrained him from growing his skillset alongside the first-team stars. It’s all chaos at Ibrox right now and the club can’t afford to lose Hagi anytime soon having parted ways with the likes of Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey back in the summer window.
