Ianis Hagi's agent has confirmed he will return to Rangers at the end of the season after an underwhelming loan spell in Spain.
The Romanian star is on loan at Alaves after being sent to La Liga at the start of the season, but the 25-year-old has only managed to score in one game out of the 22 he has played, netting a double in a 10-0 Cope del Rey rout over Deportivo Murcia. He hasn't started a league game since January and hasn't appeared on the pitch for Alaves in almost a month.
Speculation was rife that Hagi would be signing for his famous dad Gheorghe's former club Galatasaray at the end of the season rather than return to Ibrox. He was born in Istanbul and his father played for and managed the Turkish giants. However, his agent Victor Becali has confirmed Hagi will go back to Rangers when his loan deal ends at the end of the season.
The 25-year-old still has two years left on his deal in Glasgow and Becali said: "Ianis' situation is clear - he returns to Rangers at the end of the season. He is on loan at Alaves, he returns to his team and no, it won't be Galatasaray. The Turkish media have written for years about Ianis going to Galatasaray. There is no contact and there never has been."
Elsewhere, former Light Blues striker Alfredo Morelos suffered heartbreak in his bid to clinch the Brazilian state championship title after Santos fell to a 2-0 loss to Palmeiras on Sunday night. The Black and White had taken a 1-0 lead into the decisive clash from the first leg, only to concede goals in either half to miss out on the Campeonato Paulista crown, which is the country's top-flight division for Brazilian clubs in the sizeable state of Sao Paulo.
Led by wonderkid Endrick - who will join European heavyweights Real Madrid next summer - Palmeiras midfielder Raphael Veiga levelled things up on aggregate from the penalty spot on 33 minutes before Anibal Moreno scored what turned out to be the winner with 23 minutes remaining. Morelos, who has netted twice in 10 matches for Santos since his departure from Ibrox last summer, started the game and played 64 minutes before being substituted.
The 27-year-old was released by Rangers at the end of last season after a successful six-year spell where he bagged 124 goals in 269 games and despite recently confirming it was his decision to walk away from the club, says he will always look back on his time in Govan with great fondness.
Speaking to a Colombian outlet, he said: “My departure from Rangers is because it is a football thing. I had many opportunities, offers in the market, but we ended up choosing Brazil because I wanted a league where soccer is very competitive. Anyone can beat anyone.
“Everything experienced at Rangers was the result of work. In the first season there were 18 goals, in the second there were 20, in the third there were 30, in the fourth there were 20, the fifth there were 25. I passed a record of 100 goals there in the team, top scorer in European tournaments with Rangers too, reaching the Europa League final.
"The truth is that it was something incredible. I remember a game that I will never forget, that I scored against Borussia Dortmund as a visitor and in the end we eliminated them. That gave us the chance to advance to the Europa League final.”
