Report: Club waiting to pounce on £4.5m player Rangers were on the verge of buying

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Glasgow Rangers were previously believed to be on the verge of making Ianis Hagi’s Ibrox loan deal permanent but there is a club reportedly waiting to pounce amid a potential stumbling block for Steven Gerrard’s side.

Hagi joined Rangers on a six-month loan at the end of the January transfer window from Belgian club Genk and the 21-year-old didn’t take very much time to win the Bears over.

The Romania international weighed in with an impressive three goals, plus two assists, from 12 Rangers games, including his superb brace in the Europa League last-32 first leg win over Braga.

Rangers have an option to make Hagi’s signing permanent at the end of the season and, according to Goal.com, the Ibrox side was seemingly close to completing the £4.5million deal.

However, Ross Wilson recently suggested that the deal may not be as good as done just yet, in wake of the financial uncertainty within the football industry caused by the global health crisis.

The Scottish Sun has gone on to claim that, should Rangers be unable to snap Hagi up, Serie A high-flyers Lazio are waiting to pounce.

The report adds that Lazio sporting director Igli Tare would prefer a move for the Romanian gem ahead of 2014 World Cup winner Mario Gotze.

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Things could hardly have gone any better so far for both Hagi and for Rangers, the youngster loving life at the famous club, which in turn has benefitted from his services and is reportedly close to sealing a permanent deal.

As talented as Hagi is and as much promise as he’s shown, it’s important for him to be at the right club to truly prosper and be happy – his switch to Fiorentina didn’t work out, while this one seems to be working out very well.

With Gheorghe Hagi – the player’s father and widely deemed Romania’s greatest ever footballer – describing Rangers as the “ideal team” for his son (Daily Record), you could hardly get a more ringing endorsement than that.

Hopefully Rangers will be able to get the deal over the line in wake of current events – it would be a massive shame if they were to miss out effectively because of such extenuating circumstances.