Rangers star Ianis Hagi was called up by Romania for the games during the international break but this time it has been for the Under-21 side led by Adrian Mutu.
A demotion to the youth team may be seen as step back for someone with 14 senior caps already but the former Chelsea striker feels that it could help the playmaker in the long run to regain his confidence, as reported by The Daily Record.
When asked about his selection for the age group team, Mutu said:
“Ianis’ confidence has been affected and he has not been starting so much for Rangers in the past few weeks either.
“I will speak to him and I am sure playing for the 21s again will give his confidence a big boost.
“I know exactly what Ianis is capable of and for me to have him in my squad is a good thing. He will be able to help the rest of the players enormously.
“With lanis, I’ve known him from a young age and he is the perfect professional.
“If he plays well against Denmark, both the national team and Rangers will benefit from it.
“For sure he will be 100 per cent ready and motivated to play for us.”
When Hagi has been playing for Rangers, he hasn’t looked short of confidence, yes, he could do with a goal or two but he has still been attempting his usual array of passes and with a goal or an assist every 90 minutes in the Scottish Premiership, he has definitely been contributing.
We are starting to learn a bit more about him as a player and accept that he isn’t like Ryan Kent, who will torment defenders and dribble past them, he will pick up pockets of space and look to play in team-mates, there aren’t question marks over his work rate and he is far from the luxury player that many thought he might be.
He hasn’t started as many games recently but then again even Kemar Roofe and Alfredo Morelos are being rotated, it is a sign of the strength in Steven Gerrard’s squad now, not a slight on Hagi’s ability.
There will be plenty of chances for the Gers number seven to make an impact in Light Blue over the coming weeks and months as a packed fixture schedule takes it’s toll, and few would bet against him returning to his mercurial best when trusted by his manager to provide the defence splitting passes that he has become known for.