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Club confirm talks to sign £3m Rangers man as boss says ‘we really want him’Philippe Clement may feel he has no use for Rangers’ £3 million forgotten man, but at least someone does.
Despite a nightmare couple of years at club level – Ianis Hagi has barely kicked a ball when not in a Romania shirt since that traumatic knee injury back in 2022 – the seldom-seen playmaker remains a popular figure back home in Eastern Europe.
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And while proposed moves to Fiorentina and Fenerbahce have been downplayed, despite Jose Mourinho’s historic admiration for the Rangers misfit, one opportunity does appear to have present itself.
An opportunity that would see Hagi return to familiar surroundings.
The Istanbul-born attacker has not played a club game in Romanian football since a spell at Viitorul Constanta in 2019, where he scored 16 goals in 45 games.
But after Rapid Bucharest hit the headlines over in Scotland this week following the sudden sacking of Celtic legend Neil Lennon, Rapid could soon be dominating plenty of column inches in the Rangers-leaning press too.
Ianis Hagi of FC Rangers Looks on during the pre-season friendly match between TSG Hoffenheim and Rangers at PreZero-Arena on July 29, 2023 in Sins…
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Rapid Bucharest confirm interest in Rangers’ Ianis Hagi
During the unveiling of Marius Sumudica as Lennon’s replacement, Rapid Bucharest president Viorel Moldovan admitted that he would jump at the chance of adding one of Romania’s Euro 2024 party to his roster.
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“Ianis Hagi is a high value player that I think every club wants,” Moldovan tells Digi Sport. “We’ll see. We have some discussions, we’ll see how they go. I hope he’ll be interested in coming to Rapid.
“That’s the most important thing.”
Rapid shareholder Dan Sucu was even less subtle.
“We really want him,” was Sucu’s response when questions over Hagi’s future came his way, via AS.
And that should be music to the ears of the former KRC Genk man. Clement is usually pretty straight-talking but, even by his usual blunt standards, the manner in which he has removed Hagi from first-team contention was bordering on brutal.
Hagi has even lost his number seven shirt to Oscar Cortes. The son of Romania legend Gheorghe Hagi now wears 30.
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“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.”
New Romania manager Mircea Lucescu was similarly emphatic when discussing Hagi himself.
Lucescu included Rangers’ forgotten man in his squad for September’s Nations League clashes but warned that he will be dropped unless he can start playing regular first-team football again in the very near future.
“Always after a tournament, there are players who want to change clubs and run down their contracts out of desire for the better,” the 79-year-old said to Fanatik.
“Regardless of the name, it is not easy to summon an unprepared player. No way (will I continue to include those). Only players who are present on the field will perform with the national team.”
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Ianis Hagi
neil lennon
Philippe Clement
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