Hagi: ‘Natural goalscorer’ Igamane brings a rare talent to Rangers

Ianis Hagi believes Hamza Igamane is demonstrating a rare and admirable talent as he continues to thrive at Rangers.

The 22-year-old Moroccan striker was brought in from AS FAR in the summer but struggled with an injury and did not make his debut until September when he came on as a substitute against Celtic at Parkhead.

Igamane has since developed into a fan favourite and his opener in the 3-0 win over Aberdeen at Ibrox on Wednesday night – with substitutes Leon Balogun and Cyriel Dessers both scoring in stoppage time – was his 13th goal in 25 appearances and it cut the deficit behind William Hill Premiership leaders Celtic to 13 points.

Hagi claims Igamane is coping well as the number-one striker in Govan, where the need to win is constant and where manager Philippe Clement remains under the spotlight with the Hoops on their way to another title.

The Romania international said: “I don’t think there’s many players around the world that can cope with this type of pressure, where you have to perform and win, not only perform. Perform and win every three days, it’s tough.

“So at 22, to be able to do that – you can’t really find it around the world that much.

“And those who can cope… then obviously they can achieve so much moving forward.”

Asked to make comparisons between Igamane and Colombia striker Alfredo Morelos, the former Rangers hero whom Hagi also played beside at Ibrox, the midfielder said: “Are they natural goalscorers? Yes, they are.

“Are they different in terms of qualities? Probably, yes. As a striker, when you sign for Rangers, you need to score goals. And at the moment, Hamza’s doing that, and we need to keep him fit and work for him.

“Obviously, myself and the other players that play behind him, try to create as many opportunities for him as possible. And as I said, hopefully he’ll stay fit, and he’ll definitely score goals.

“Everybody has a different character. It’s not just Buff (Morelos) or Hamza. Everybody has its own character.

“Obviously, he’s a young lad, and hopefully guys like myself and other players who have more experience can help him whenever he has tough situations or certain situations which he hasn’t really faced before.

“So yes, hopefully we can help him as much as possible, and as long as he scores goals, then that’s what we need.”

Rangers take a break from the relentless pressure in the league to host Fraserburgh in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup on Sunday before resuming their Europa League campaign with a trip to play Manchester United at Old Trafford next week.

The Light Blues are in eighth place in the table with 11 points from six fixtures and are on course to make the knockout stages.

Hagi is not in Rangers’ European squad at present but insists there is a big opportunity in Europe ahead.

He said: “Obviously, the cup is really important for us, and then in Europe we have had a great season up until now.

“So hopefully the guys can get it over the line, and why not finish in the top eight moving forward, and hopefully have a really good last six months or five months of the season.

“We showed as a club in the last five, six years that we can perform at a really high level European-wise, and we got to a European final, a few quarter-finals.

“So we enjoy playing in the European games, and up until now we performed quite well against really tough teams, so we’re definitely, as a group, as a collective, we’re definitely looking forward to those type of games.”