Former Rangers full-back, Alan Hutton, has backed Ianis Hagi to be a hit for his old club if they decide to take up their exclusive option to buy the Romanian international.
Speaking to Football Insider, the retired Scotland international was effusive in his praise for the January signing.
So what has Hutton said?
When asked about Hagi’s impact for the Light Blues since making the move from Genk, he said:
“I think he is improving all the time at Rangers. He will continue to get better if he signs for them I think.
“I think he’s done brilliant since he’s come in. He’s kind of been that spark when they’ve needed it.
“In certain games he’s really come up trumps for them, scoring the winning goal and really creating that little bit of magic, the final pass – he sees things other players don’t.
“Rangers were missing that, even though I think we’ve got great players in midfield, sometimes they just miss that cutting edge, that final pass and he’s a guy who sees that.
“Obviously he came with real potential and at the moment he’s fulfilling that. I think Gerrard would be over the moon to capture someone of his quality for the season’s coming.”
So is Hutton correct?
Absolutely, Hagi came into a struggling team having not played much football himself and made an immediate impact scoring a late winer against Hibernian at Ibrox.
His performances in the Europa League have also been note worthy, not only did he score twice against Braga to drag his side back into the tie but he created three gilt-edged chances for team mates on the night, his pass for Ryan Kent in the away fixture sealed the Gers passage to the last 16.
He has looked more influential when he has played in a central role and it may be that the current break will allow Steven Gerrard the opportunity to reflect on how best to use such a creative player, one that he sorely missed when football resumed after the winter break.
Ross Wilson looks to have played a blinder by negotiating the exclusive option to buy with clubs from Serie A and the Premier League said to be monitoring Hagi’s situation, however, with his agent and the player both expressing a desire to stay in Glasgow, the Ibrox faithful could have plenty more nights like Braga to look forward to yet.