Despite being dropped from the full squad into the u-21 side it seems that Ianis Hagi can do no wrong.
During the summer there was a lengthy list of Romanians telling readers of the Daily Record and The Sun about the football genius who had been replaced by Eboue Koussi at Belgian side Genk.
The lure of working with Steven Gerrard was overwhelming for the son of Gheorgi despite Fake News about Real Madrid, Spurs and Manchester City keeping tabs and monitoring events. One report claimed that at the age of 21 he was a better player that Ronaldo and Messi who were only playing first team football for Manchester United and Barcelona.
Genk agreed a flexible and imaginative deal reported at £3m for Hagi but early in the season he has been replaced by Scott Arfield.
Any prospect of reality sinking in has ben avoided with some incredible tales from the Romanian u-21 training ground- in much the same fashion as stories of Bruno Alves’ exploits at beach football filled the Gullible with excitement in the summer of 2017.
The Sun reports:
RANGERS star Ianis Hagi showed his talent as he bagged two stunning free-kicks in Romania Under-21s training.
The Gers ace has dropped back down to the youth setup following criticism over recent performances for the senior squad. Hagi has also failed to start in Gers’ last three matches and has scored just once in 21 outings.
But he showed he hasn’t lost his technique as he curled home two free-kicks in training after following instructions from Adrian Mutu. Hagi curled a right-footed effort into the top corner before swapping over to his left foot and doing the same.
Over at the Daily Record they go with:
Ianis Hagi has already proven atIbrox he knows his way around a free-kick but like all good players, he clearly acknowledges every day is a school day.
And who better than Romania under-21 coach Adrian Mutu to teach him ways to sharpen up a technique that has already seen him send the grand old stadium into bedlam when he scored from 25 yards against Braga in last season’s Europa League.
Mutu turned out as a striker for the likes of Chelsea, Fiorentina and Juventus in a top level career where he notched 160 goals. And a brilliant video has emerged of the 41-year-old working with the Rangers kid on free-kicks.
The coach is seen showing the youngster how your standing position can affect the whip of the ball before Hagi sets himself and pings one into the top bin.
In 2014 Chelsea sacked Mutu for cocaine abuse with the striker ordered to pay £15.2m in compensation to the player.