Former Romania star Danut Lupa has called upon Rangers player Ianis Hagi to ‘leave Rangers immediately’ in an interview featured in the Glasgow Times.
Lupu played alongside Ianis’ father, Gheorghe Hagi, for the Romanian national team. Lupu stated that Hagi should not be called up to the Tricolorii at this moment, due to his continued disinclusion from the Rangers squad.
To counteract this, Lupu called upon Hagi to depart the Light Blues if he wants to preserve his place in the Romania team. He said that should he be called up at this point, it could ‘spoil the whole atmosphere’ of the national team dressing room.
What did Danut Lupu say in the interview?
In the interview, Lupu said: “It would spoil the whole atmosphere of the national team if they called up Ianis Hagi now. I don’t think that at this current time, we can say that the national team needs Ianis Hagi.
“He has not played recently, he is a player who can help the national team only if he plays at club level. I have respect for Gheorghe Hagi and I admire what he does for Ianis as a parent, but he must understand that his son cannot be called up if he is not playing for Rangers.
“It’s not like his dad, who made all the difference when he played for us. We couldn’t do without him and you cannot say that about Ianis. My advice to him is to leave Rangers immediately. Don’t stay where you are not wanted. I don’t know why he would want to stay anyway. Until he got injured he was a key player at Rangers.”
Should Ianis Hagi leave Rangers?
Recently, Hagi’s opportunities to shine for Rangers have been very limited. During last night’s 2-2 draw with PSV, he failed to even make the matchday squad – let along the starting XI.
It isn’t all his fault – he suffered a major injury during his time at the Gers that kept him out of action for almost a year. Since then, he has struggled to break back into the first team.
He is a very talented player – therefore, it would be a shame to see him waste his career (both at club and international level) at a team that has no place for him.
