Ibrox View: Hatchet job on Rangers big name will surely shock many supporters
RANGERS OPINION
There was a lot of excitement around Ibrox when Rangers signed Ianis Hagi in January, and it’s not hard to see why.
The 21-year-old has been largely impressive since arriving in Glasgow, hitting three goals and two assists in nine outings for the Gers thus far.
So while there remains some uncertainty over whether or not Steven Gerrard’s men will look to make his loan move from Genk permanent, as per Football Insider, it will perhaps come as a surprise to many to be reminded of how poorly he was regarded in Belgium during the first half of the campaign.
In fact, national outlet Voetbal Nieuws have even gone as far as to name the Romanian in their flop transfer team of the season.
The piece reads: “Genk will also soon escape a hangover from this transfer because it seems Rangers will be willing to pay 5 million Euros to take over his contract
“At least Genk would make a profit from this having only paid 4 million Euros for him last summer.
“Unfortunately, this Romanian wonderboy will only go down in history here as a silent passer-by.”
So just how bad was Hagi prior to moving to Ibrox?
Well, a closer look at the stats would seemingly suggest that he actually played better in Belgium than he is right now.
As per Wyscout, Hagi registered more shots per game, more accurate crosses, a higher percentage of successful dribbles, won a higher percentage of his defensive duels, and had a much better xG rating.
In fact, the only area in which he seems to have dramatically improved since moving to Rangers is in the number of touches he registers in the opposition box, shooting up from 1.44 to 4.4.
So why is Hagi held in much higher esteem in Glasgow?
Pinning it down to one reason isn’t easy, but surely it has something to do with his relative role in the first team setup.
In Belgium, Hagi started just six of his 22 league appearances, whereas he has already wracked up six starts out of seven matches in Scotland.
He is a much bigger part of the Gers’ squad than he ever was at Genk, and that means that his output is appreciated a lot more.
It just remains to be seen if it is appreciated enough for him to stay on next season.
In other Rangers news, ‘It’s a miracle’ – Ian Wright aims jibe at senior Ibrox man.