STEVEN Gerrard has told Ianis Hagi he needs to maintain the form he showed in the Europa League wins over Braga if he wants Rangers to take up the option to buy him in the summer.
Hagi, who netted twice in the 3-2 win over the Primeira Liga club at Ibrox last month, set up Ryan Kent for the only goal of the second leg in Portugal on Wednesday night. Gerrard, whose team will face Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16 next month, described the playmaker’s defence-splitting second-half pass as a “moment of genius”. However, the former Liverpool and England midfielder has warned the 21-year-old, who is on loan from Belgian club Genk until the end of the 2019/20 campaign, not to let his standards drop in the coming months.
Rangers can sign the Romanian forward, the son of former Real Madrid and Barcelona great Gheorghe, permanently for £4m in the summer. The Govan club’s supporters would be delighted if they did – but Gerrard wants to see Hagi perform consistently between now and the end of this term before making a call.
“We don’t have to push the ball just yet, we’ve got time,” he said. “There’s still a lot of football to be played. He’s come in and had a real strong impact. We’ve been delighted with him, on and off the pitch, how professional he is and how much of a student of the game he is and how quickly he’s picked up how we want to play.
“People will talk about the assists and goals, but positionally he’s very clever. His work-rate, his attitude, he’s ticked every box since he’s come in. It’s fantastic to be in a position where we have got the first option, but it’s one we have time on. All the players have to perform consistently well to stay here. That’s the club you are dealing with.”
Gerrard was impressed with how Hagi responded to having a first-half penalty saved by Matheus in the Estadio Municipal de Braga in midweek – by producing a piece of skill which helped to secure a famous triumph.
“It was a moment of genius because that was all about vision and executing a really difficult pass,” he said. “The weight of it. Being a midfielder, I really appreciated that, particularly on the back of a disappointing setback with the penalty.
“A lot of people would have went missing for the rest of the game, but he stepped up and
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