IANIS HAGI CELTIC LINK: IS IT REALLY SUCH A BAD IDEA?
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- Aug 6
- 3 min read
The suggestion from Romania’s national team technical director that Celtic should sign Ianis Hagi, has been met with seemingly universal condemnation and more than a bit of mockery.
But is it really such a bad idea?
Just for a minute, let’s set aside the fact that he used to play for the £1.49ers. Hagi fits the profile of what Celtic are currently looking for on a number of levels.
Ianis Hagi: Celtic Need a Skillful Right-Winger, and He’s Available on a Free
Celtic’s biggest glaring weakness, though by no means our only one, on Sunday, was our right wing. As much as we can’t fault his effort, Yang just wasn’t making any impact, and it’s becoming much harder for people like me, who rate him as a player, to make a case for keeping him at Celtic.
James Forrest changed the game when he came on. However, he is 34 years old and even in his prime, he wasn’t the most consistent player. We can depend on him to come on and give us the same 30 minutes of magic every week.
Hagi is 26 years old, and currently training with Farul Constanta, the club his more famous father, Gheorghe, owns a majority stake in. There’s been talk of a possible move to Poland, or staying in Romania and going to Steaua Bucharest. So far, nothing has materialized though.
He’s a decent player, and would be a great addition to the Celtic squad. The fact he used to play for “them” shouldn’t be an issue.
Who else could we sign right now, who is in their prime as a player, has decent European experience, fills a position in which we are lacking, and also knows the Scottish game well on a free transfer?
If Hagi had played for any team other than Rangers for the past few years this would be a no-brainer.
Romania’s technical director, Mihai Stoichita, was quite direct in his thoughts about why Hagi would be a good signing for Celtic.
He said: “I would be happy to see Ianis Hagi at Celtic.
"Let him play for them and beat Rangers.”
Hagi was poorly treated by Rangers throughout his time there, despite most fans rating him highly as a player. He was often omitted from the team in favor of clearly inferior players.
I would guess, maybe, he’s welcome the chance for a bit of payback.
Revenge, or the chance to shout a good old fashioned “get it up ye!” as we say in Glasgow, to those who have wronged you, is a surprisingly strong motivator.
Alfie Conn, Stephen Pressley, even Kenny Miller. Celtic have done alright on the few occasions when we’ve been brave enough to take a punt on former residents of Snake Mountain.
Not only does Ianis Hagi fill a gap in Celtic’s current squad, but it would be a chance to inflict an almighty mental blow on our would-be rivals across town, if we can take a player they never figured out how to utilize properly and turn him into a player who scores goals against them.
I don’t think it’s bizarre, I don’t think it’s bonkers. I also don’t think it’ll happen, but I hope someone at Celtic is at least considering it. We could do a lot worse.
