Rangers midfielder Ianis Hagi, born 22nd October 1998 in the far-off land of Turkey, turns out to be a thoroughly competent footballer. Standing at 5ft 11in (1.82m) and tipping the scales at 11st 4lb (72kg), Hagi dons the number 30 jersey and has the privilege of being called up to the Romanian national team.
Our dear lad Hagi began his future men's football journey in July 2014, courtesy of Liga II's Viitorul Constanța, based in Romania. Over the subsequent years, he made regular appearances and contributed a respectable tally of goals. In fact, our Hagi managed 31 enthusiastic appearances and a delightful ten goals in the 2018-2019 season. And that, my friends, was only at Viitorul Constanța.
July 2016 saw Hagi being eagerly snapped up by Italy's Serie A side, Fiorentina, for a sum that drained their pockets of roughly £1.7m. And the sum of his endeavours for that season? A whopping two appearances. The Italians, clearly seeking more action between systems, returned our Hero to Viitorul Constanța in January 2018, this time for a roundly £1.8m.
After a triumphant but exhausting stint back with Viitorul Constanța, the siren call of the Pro League couldn’t be resisted, and Genk managed to secure our Hagi’s services in July 2019, for a cool £7.2m. His outputs? A solid season where he punched in about 14 appearances and three goals.
A quick hop to the chilly climates of Scotland in January 2020 saw Hagi sign up for a loan spell with Premiership side Rangers. After this, Genk ended up pocketing a neat £3.2m as Rangers decided to secure Hagi on a permanent basis. Since then, our sturdy Hagi has banked a good run of games, scored a considerable amount of goals across multiple seasons, and garnered quite the reputation among Scottish Premiership watchers. He then tested new waters on a short-term loan at Alaves in LaLiga, Spain in August 2023, before returning to Rangers in June 2024.
Oh, and I haven’t mentioned - he's demonstrated his capability to play in multiple competitions, including scorching the grass in the Scottish Cup, sending balls racing down the pitch in the League Cup, and even representing Romania in the Euro 2024, Euro Qualifiers 2022-2024, and Nations League 2024-2025.
