His family name is synonymous with football elegance. 

It's an inheritance that evokes memories of a magisterial left foot that was used with sniper-like accuracy at both World Cups and Champions League ties.

While Ianis will struggle to emulate the heroics of his storied father Gheorghe in dragging an entire nation on his shoulders, he’s already shown a capacity for similar magic at Rangers.

Early in his career in Govan, he entered the fray in a last 32 Europa League tie against Braga with his team 0-2 down and being completely overcome.

What happened next is already part of the folklore of Ibrox, the stadium shaking under the weight of 50,000 souls dancing to the Romanian’s tune.

Two goals in the 3-2 victory saw his proud Dad watch on with a glint in his eye, proud and buoyed by the eternal hope that the youngster might yet prove to be a chip off the old block and become the second Hagi to take European football by storm.

It’s the legacy every son of a famous footballer must wrestle with and can be a cruel fate.

And yet, it doesn’t seem to burden this 22-year old.

This is his third season in Scotland and despite an unfortunate Covid interruption he’s showing signs of an explosive season on season growth that marks out the best who have passed through these lands.

Before his half-time introduction against Livingston, Rangers had huffed and puffed against a stuffy, well-organised side.

With a four-man creative unit of Joe Aribo, Scott Wright, Kemar Roofe and Alfredo Morelos misfiring, Steven Gerrard needed to do something to disrupt a Lions defence that had looked relatively untested barring the incisive runs of Nathan Patterson down the right flank.

It was a snooze-inducing 45 minutes that induced groans from the Ibrox faithful as the whistle blew, the denizens recognizing the performance as atypical of a season promising much but delivering a far less refined version of the team that cut through Scottish football like a barber’s razor last term.

READ MORE: Detailed Rangers player ratings as Alfredo Morelos and Ianis Hagi make crucial difference against stubborn Livingston

Gerrard was desperate for a creative spark and Hagi took no time in adding a current of electricity that crackled and snapped from the pitch to the crowd and back.

Not only is this kid a wonderful player but he’s a grafter. As soon as he stepped on the grass he moved forward, not sideways, with the purpose and intent of a man who was going to change this match.

Within two minutes he had been involved in several passages of play, a swirling forcefield of energy and menace, constantly moving into space.

And when Kemar Roofe found him on the edge of the box, he only had one thing in mind, take on James Penrice and cut the ball back.

Hagi is not blessed with great pace, but he’s powerful and mobile enough to be a fearsome prospect in full flow. A slight feint left created space to drive into and his cross was pinpoint enough that Roofe, who started the move didn’t have to break stride in tapping home from a yard out.

Penrice got his own back a few minutes later as an emboldened Hagi slalomed past several challenges before being mercilessly chopped to the ground in one of those singularly ‘that’s Scottish footbal for you’ orange card challenges.

The Romanian was a constant threat until Alfredo Morelos capitalised on a Livi keeper Max Stryjek’s awful pass and drilled the ball into the corner for the second and clincher.

Hagi actually had a mixed performance in the remainder of the game, but by then the job was done and the trip to Hampden secured on the back of a 2-0 final score.

He may not live up to the impossible standards of an incredible father, but it won’t be for the want of trying. And nobody at Rangers will look to the father, when the son is proving to be everything they need.