Following Steven Gerrard's appointment as Aston Villa's manager after the departure of Dean Smith, rumours linking Villa with one of Gerrard's former players at Rangers have started to emerge.

What's the news?

According to a recent report from Fichajes, Villa could make a move to sign Ianis Hagi from the Scottish club at some point in the future as a potential direct request from Gerrard.

The 23-year-old winger originally joined Rangers on a loan deal from Belgian club Genk in the 2020 January transfer window before joining the Glasgow side on a permanent basis the following summer.

Overall, the Romanian - who is currently valued at £5.85m by Transfermarkt - has made a total of 77 appearances for Rangers across all competitions, scoring 14 goals and providing 21 assists in the process.

With Gerrard previously saying that Hagi was a "absolute dream to work with" when he was in charge of Rangers, it would make sense for the Villa boss to seek a reunion with the player at the Midlands club if he thinks the 23-year-old could strengthen their squad.

In addition, with the ex-Liverpool captain also praising Hagi's work rate and mindset, a lot of Villa fans would be thrilled if their club managed to work out a deal to bring him to Villa Park for a reasonably low price given Gerrard's clear admiration for the player and his talents.

Looking ahead to the future, with Villa CEO Christian Purslow recently suggesting that some deals could be made in the upcoming January transfer window, perhaps adding Hagi to Villa's squad could be exactly what they need to make sure Gerrard is able to push the team to a potential European place in the Premier League table.

However, with the 23-year-old's contract at Ibrox not set to expire until the summer of 2024 and having made 19 appearances for the club across all competitions so far this season, this could make it hard for Villa to persuade Rangers to do business in January.

Also, with Villa currently having six wingers in their senior squad, it could be hard for Hagi to get as much regular game-time there as he has been at Rangers, despite Gerrard's praise for him.

In other news: Gerrard could be heading for his first AVFC disaster on £31.5m-rated “absolute joy”