What we have here, lads and lasses, is the moving tale of one Ianis Hagi. An adventurous sort of midfielder, who spends most of his time native to the centre of the park. This lad is known for putting on the colours of Rangers across the Scottish border, and previously for many a club across Europe. Born on 22 October 1998, which plants him firmly at the ripe age of 25, nowhere near his peak. He hails from the far-flung realms of Turkey and he is no wee lad. Hagi stands at 5ft 11in (1.82m), not exactly towering but stout enough, and tips the scales at 11st 4lb (72kg). This master of the round ball even dons the distinguished number 30 for Rangers.
Having made a significant impact in his early days at Viitorul Constanța in the Romanian Liga II, where his career took off in July 2014, Hagi made impactful appearances and an impressive league goals tally to carve a name for himself. It was a nice little stepping stone, wouldn't you say? Footnotes in his Romanian journey include scoring six goals in the 2017-2018 season and ten in the 2018-2019 season, the boy certainly knew where the back of the net was.
In July 2016, Hagi transferred to Fiorentina in Italy's elite Serie A, for a sum of £1.7m. His Italian adventure didn't quite take off, with only two first team appearances under his belt. Hagi seemed to have a taste for home cooking and decided to return to Viitorul Constanța in January 2018, this time for a fee of £1.8m. Again, he performed well for his boyhood club, reinforcing his reputation as a proven goal scorer, much to the delight of the local fans.
The lad then decided to broaden his horizons and set sail for Belgium's Pro League, joining Genk for an impressive £7.2m in July 2019. His stint was moderate, with three goals in his debut seasons. His next destination was Rangers, initially on loan in January 2020, then making his move permament in July 2020 for a fee of £3.2m. Oh, the vagaries of football finance.
Up north in Scotland, Hagi seemed to be settling in well with regular appearances and a steady flow of goals. Yet another twist in his tale led him to Alaves in Spain's LaLiga on a loan spell in August 2023. A season later and he’s packed his bags and was whisked back to Rangers in June 2024. It's exhausting just trying to keep up, isn't it?
For our friends across the Continent, you may also recognise him from his outings for Romania in competitions like Euro 2024 and the Euro Qualifiers 2022-2024, not to mention the Nations League 2024-2025. The lad has indeed been about a bit, hasn't he?
