Spare a thought for Ianis Hagi.
The 23-year old looked primed to have a run of games in his preferred attacking midfield position only to be cut down with the cruelest of injuries in a game that really didn’t need us to be putting our bodies on the line.
What does look clear though is that Giovanni van Bronckhorst has pencilled the Romanian international into the number ten role rather than having to be stuck out on the wing where his skillset never really matched his strengths or his style of play.
That we have sold Joe Aribo and have only brought in Malik Tillman as a specialist central attacking midfielder suggests that this is where Hagi’s future in a Light Blue shirt will lie.
Perhaps even more interesting and one that fans might have forgotten about, is that Gio tried to play Hagi as a number eight a couple of times only for early injuries to see him shifted about, against lower Scottish Premiership teams when we spend most of our time in possession, having someone with his passing range and attacking intent alongside John Lundstram or Ryan Jack could prove to be very useful – Glen Kamara is a class act, but being creative just isn’t his game.
There’s never been any doubts about his work rate, application or talent, only that he isn’t quick enough to be a winger, in fairness, it’s never a position that he has claimed to excel in and yet he has still produced decent numbers in his time at the club.
His rehabilitation continues to go well but, as confirmed by the manager, it doesn’t look like we will see him until after the World Cup, hopefully, that period can be used as a pre-season for those that missed the summer one so that they can hit the ground running for the second-half off the season with Hagi leading the way – his bravery on the ball and creativity is sorely missed.