Comments by Romania chief show Rangers boss Michael Beale made right call on Ianis Hagi
Michael Beale has been proven right in his decision to allow Ianis Hagi to depart Rangers this summer after Mihai Stoichita declared the Romanian not ready for international football.
Having made the loan switch to Alaves from Ibrox this summer, the 24-year-old has made one appearance in La Liga, coming off of the bench for a two-minute cameo against Valencia, before joining up with his national team this month.
Hagi was left on the bench for Romania’s 1-1 draw with Israel with the country’s technical director Stoichita saying that he still wasn’t ready to feature for the national side having suffered a major ACL injury.
Speaking to the Romanian outlet Fanatik, (10 September) he said: “Poor Ianis is making his way back from an injury. Let’s let him recover. Rather than putting it in and making fun of it for not being restored, it’s better to throw it into play when you feel like it.
“I don’t know if he will play with Kosovo. It’s not my business. That doesn’t mean I’m abdicating responsibility. He has talent. But we did not have three phases with Israel. Let’s say three phases.”
It’s safe to say most of the jury is not currently on the side of Beale at Ibrox, with most fans irritated by the Gers’ poor start to the season that has already seen them lose the first Old Firm clash with Celtic as well as fail to reach the Champions League group stage after a second-leg humiliation at the hands of PSV.
That ill feeling towards the manager was present when it was announced that Hagi would not be included in the Light Blues’ European squad before the play-off against PSV, having been vocal in his unhappiness having not played regularly under Beale.
Most fans were unhappy with the decision to quickly rush the 24-year-old out of the Ibrox exit door, especially considering he had just put in a solid performance in Rangers’ Viaplay Cup win over St Johnstone only days before.
But with Stoitchta’s recent comments, it feels as though Beale might have done the right thing in getting Hagi off of the wage bill and away from Glasgow for the season as if he isn’t in a good enough state to feature for Romania, he likely isn’t in a condition to play week in week out in the Scottish Premiership.
Beale deserves plenty of criticism for the start that Rangers have had to their season and it’s safe to say he’s got plenty of transfer decisions wrong by the looks of it this summer. However, you have to say that it looks like this one may have been a sensible call.
Getting one outgoing right won’t ease much, if any, of the pressure on the Ibrox boss, however.
In other Rangers news, Michael Beale seems to have the backing of his coaches at Ibrox after a cryptic post appeared on Instagram