Popular pundit Barry Ferguson has likened Ianis Hagi to the former Celtic player Lubo Moravcik because of his two-footedness.
The Romanian midfielder is equally good with either foot and Ferguson believes that he has the ability to be a long term player for Rangers. However, he will have to prove himself in the tough games and show what he is all about.
He wrote in Daily Record: “Steven Gerrard will want to see how the Romanian kid handles going to places like Perth on Sunday, where he’s going to have to roll his sleeves up and dig deep. That’s where we’ll see what he’s made of. It’s not going to be pretty. You know what the weather’s like – it’s going to be wet and windy. This is where you’ve got to be prepared to do the horrible side of the game. There’s no doubt the guy is technically superb. I still don’t know his strongest foot. That tells you everything. He scored a brilliant goal with his left foot and then took the free-kick with his right foot. The last guy I saw doing that was Lubo Moravcik at Celtic. So the ability is there but he has to show it at McDiarmid Park, at Fir Park, at Tynecastle, at Pittodrie. That’s what it really means being a Rangers player. Can you change? Can you do the dirty side when you need to?”.
Hagi did very well against Braga in adverse circumstances and on that evidence, he should be able to handle the pressure in the Scottish league as well.
Apart from his goals and creativity, Hagi has that extra bit of magic in him to produce when his team needs him the most.
It will be interesting to see how he performs in the coming weeks. The midfielder will be hoping to build on his good start at his new club and show that he has what it takes to succeed at this level.
Rangers have the option to sign him permanently at the end of this season and they must do everything to get that transfer sorted.
Hagi has shown enough to warrant that outlay. Not signing him would be a major mistake from the Rangers recruitment team. He has all the tools to develop into a superstar.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
