Romanian media reacts to 5/10 international display from Rangers ace Ianis Hagi - 'Present but...'

Rangers ace Ianis Hagi drew an underwhelming reaction from the national media after his cameo in Romania's 3-0 win over Cyrpus 3-0 on Saturday (12 October).

The attacking midfielder was only afforded 18 minutes in the Nations League clash and did see a goal ruled out for offside in the fixture.

However, considering he had little time on the pitch, the media in his home country acknowledged he made little impact on proceedings.

Romanian newspaper GSP.ro (12 October) rated the 25-year-old a 5/10 and wrote: "5 - involved, present but without achievements."

Adevarul (12 October), another Romanian outlet, also had little to say about Hagi's performance aside from the fact a goal was chalked off due to being offside.

However, the same outlet added in a separate article that Romanian manager Mircea Lucescu brought Hagi on for "encouragement".

"Lucescu also gave minutes to Alex Chipciu, who returned to the first representative team after a long period, but also to George Pușcaș, Virgil Ghiță and Hagi, for encouragement," they wrote.

Rangers could look towards Ianis Hagi as the season goes on

The attacking midfielder hasn't had much game time for Rangers this season due to the debacle surrounding his £6,000 wage rise he was due after hitting 100 Gers appearances [Daily Record, 14 August], a clause that he later agreed to renege on.

The fact he was only on the pitch for 18 minutes for Romania and had a disallowed goal, as well as a key pass (Sofascore), shows the impact he could have had if he was played for longer.

Indeed, Tom Lawrence and summer arrival Nedim Bajrami [Gianluca Di Marzio, 30 August] currently occupy the number 10 spot in Clement's team and both have been in stellar form, but, there's always a chance for a mistake to be made by one or the other that allows a door to be opened for Hagi.

Although he only has a year left on his deal with the club, if he can get into a run of form and carry it over multiple games, the Gers may choose to extend his stay beyond the end of the season.

Hagi has only just been reintegrated into the Gers' first-team squad of course so it could take him some time to get up to speed, but, as the season goes on and the games start to pile up, the Romania international could become a key player for the Ibrox outfit.

In other Rangers news, Scottish media have reacted to the performance of John Souttar v Croatia.

For more Rangers news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.