Ianis Hagi continued his understated start to life as a permanent Ranger with his eighth assist of the season against Ross County, making the last few minutes easier than they had previously been.
The 22-year old Romanian international – signed from Genk for £3million – is a player like no other on the books at Ibrox, impossible to pigeon hole and even harder to keep down.
His six-week loan spell prior to the Covid-19 interrupted shutdown was exciting in spells and anonymous in others, however, he was coming into a team that was suffering a crisis of confidence and identity, but now he is starting to find his feet, and his role, in Steven Gerrard’s team.
Hagi is hitting a goal involvement every game at the moment, without including moves where he is part of the initial build up, if there is one criticism though, it is that he probably should have a couple more goals but his technical ability makes this more likely than not.
This week alone has seen the very best of Hagi, he will not do the sort of thing that Ryan Kent or Alfredo Morelos does, he won’t pick the ball up and beat a couple of players before scoring, but what he will do is run himself into the ground and be a key part of the press but more importantly, he will be the man who finds the space and plays the pass for others to score.
Is there more to come from Hagi?
Yes
No
His dead weight pass for Scott Arfield against Galatasaray where he didn’t have to break stride, followed by his deft chip over an on-rushing defence against Ross County for Brandon Barker are perfect examples of what he brings to the team – only Steven Davis can claim to possess a similar passing range.
Patience is needed with the mercurial playmaker, he has shown what he can do, he just needs to be allowed to get on with it because he might just be the difference between success and failure.