Hagi ‘living the dream’ despite missing out on Old Firm bow
Circumstances have now conspired on two occasions to prevent Ianis Hagi fulfilling his ambition to play in an Old Firm match.
Back in March, it was Covid -19 which frustrated the Romanian international when football was suspended just two days before he was set to line up for Rangers against Celtic at Ibrox.
Last Saturday, it was the decision of his manager Ste - ven Gerrard which saw Hagi miss out as he spent the full 90 minutes of Rangers’ 2-0 win at Celtic Park on the substitutes’ bench.
But Hagi, who celebrates his 22 nd birthday on Thursday when Rangers will open their Europa League Group D campaign against Standard Liege in Belgium, is relaxed about his status in Gerrard’s squad.
The son of Romanian legend Gheorghe has no doubts his opp or tunit y to taste the Old Firm experience at first hand will eventually come and insists his move to Rangers is already meeting all of his expectations.
“I am sure that my chance will come, that was only the first Old Firm game of the season and there are more to come,” said Hagi.
“I am looking forward to being involved in one of them and hopefully I will be fit, but that is for the next game.
“I am now looking towards the game against Liege. I feel really good on the European stage because I believe my style is suited there.
“But I feel good now at Rangers. Even although I have been there for ten months, I’ve only had four in the team because of Covid.
“I am only at the beginning, that is for sure. I am still working on the chemistry with the team but I believe that with ever y single game I am improving.
“There is more to come for sure and I hope it will be even better than what has happened until now.
“Being in a team like Rangers you need to have the mentality where it’s win at all costs.
“You need to win every game, no matter the competition, and that is something I really like and enjoy.
“At R angers we train with that same mentality. We have this pressure on our shoul - ders all the time and it makes me feel like dreams do come true because this is what I have wanted ever since I was a kid.
“I dreamed of being part of a team that always wants to win and always tries to win. I want to be part of a team that wants to get better and wants to win trophies.
“It suits my own mentality. I thrive on that, I don’t know if I was born with it or I just grew up with that mentality because of my dad.
“But this is who I am. I always dreamed of playing with these types of teams. Teams that always had the ball, teams that dominated the pitch and the ball. Teams that were expected to win.
“Basically this is what we want to do at Rangers, I have felt that since day one so that’s why I say dreams do come true. I am striving to get better all the time.”
Meanwhile, Steven Gerrard believes continued Europa League progress holds the key to his ambitions of making further improvements to the Rangers squad.
A third consecutive appearance in the group stage of the tournament kicks off for the Ibrox club on Thursday evening when they face Standard Liege in Belgium.
G err a rd’ s outstanding record in the Europa League since taking charge of R angers in the summer of 2018, with just five defeats in 35 matches so far, has restored their credibility on the continental stage.
Just as significantly, it has also delivered critical streams
of income as Rangers rebuild the fabric and status of the club in the aftermath of their financial collapse back in 2012. They have earned around £5 million in UEFA prize money in each of the past two seasons, with similar sums again from matchday income from home games.
The Rangers board have re invested much of those funds into Gerrard’s strengthening of his team and he is aware of how crucial it is to maintain that balance.
“Without a doubt,” said the R angers manager. “Without giving too much information away, this club needs to be in Europe for financial reasons and I have probably had the backing and support I have had up to date because we have been so successful in terms of manoeuvring through the three qualifying campaigns.
“This year is different because of Covid and having no fans in the stadium but, without a doubt, I think as a staff we have earned the support that we have got (from the board) and it has enabled us to go and try and improve certain individuals and bring in others to support the good players that we have got.
“That needs to continue. We are not a finished team, we are not a finished group and there are still some areas where we need to keep trying to strive to be better.
“But we have to play our par t as well by tr ying to play as many games as we can in Europ e b ecause it cer tainly helps and gives the board confidence to go and back it up.”