'God Forbid' - Agent reacts after exit-linked Rangers ace speaks out amid Ibrox stand-off

Giovanni Becali has responded after Rangers attacker Ianis Hagi spoke out to make clear the agent doesn’t represent him.

The 72-year-old told iAm Sport in Romania on 7 September he only wants the best for the exit-linked Gers ace and hadn’t been attempting to portray himself as speaking for the international.

This came after Hagi had posted on his Instagram stories earlier the same day to distance himself from comments “notorious agent” Becali had made about his situation at Ibrox, where he has been frozen out by Philippe Clement despite wanting to stay at the club [Sky Sports, 26 August].

Hagi had gone public in response to Becali’s comments suggesting Gers fans were unhappy with Clement over his stance and could pressure the manager to change course [Fanatik, 6 September], and the agent insists he only had the player’s best interests at heart.

He said: “God forbid. I spoke only for his good. I never claimed to be his impresario. I always defended him and that’s it, nothing more.”

Giovanni Becali claims innocence over Rangers issue

As a 39-cap Romanian international and the son of arguably the nation’s greatest, Gheorghe Hagi, the Light Blues attacker is always going to draw plenty of focus from his home country.

Becali’s status as a prominent player agent in the Romania makes him someone whose opinion may be sought, but it has been lost in translation that he isn’t Hagi’s actual representation.

That matter has surely now been settled after the 25-year-old’s clarification, but his future at Ibrox is very much still in the balance.

Both he and his manager have made their stances very clear and they are clearly not compatible, since Hagi wants to stay and has already rejected a move away to Rapid Bucharest [Sky Sports, 26 August] but Clement has no plans for him [Daily Mail, 31 August].

It remains to be seen whether the Belgian would chance his mind if there wasn’t a clause in the attacker’s contract entitling him to a £6000 per week pay rise if he plays [Daily Record, 13 August].

Hagi appears to have indicated his willingness to sit down for negotiations with the club in order to find a solution, which has been called for by Ibrox News pundit Derek Ferguson.

A decent offer from a club where the transfer window is still open might solve the problem for everyone, but if all deadlines pass and he remains in Glasgow it looks like the B Team or a contract termination [Daily Record, 29 August] as things stand.

In other Rangers news, Clement is no longer making sense and has entered “sacked territory”.

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