Gheorghe Hagi compares Pantaleo Corvino to Nicolae Ceaușescu

A lot of people were surprised when Ianis Hagi left the club to go to back to Romania. Details have emerged from his father Gheorghe Hagi, and it’s fair to say he was not pleased with how the club treated his son.

In an interview with Digisport.ro he has revealed all:

“The Viola directors lied to both me and Ianis. They had three offers when he returned to us in Romania and a great Coach had said my son could be compared to Francesco Totti,”

“They fined him because he said he was disappointed at not playing for the club. Corvino does everything there, he’s a worse dictator than General Ceausescu.

“Fiorentina have a budget of €100m and are in 11^th place with Stefano Pioli on the bench. Everyone was curious to see Ianis play and he did great things with the Primavera youth team, but they never let him develop.

“Fiorentina have lost a great player who one day could compete to win the Ballon d’Or.”

The first thing Gheorghe Hagi says is that they lied to Ianis, as he must have been offered assurances that, if he plays well with the Primavera squad he’ll be introduced to the first team. Also, he was sold the dream that he will become like Francesco Totti. I’m sure when Hagi signed for Fiorentina he was delighted that the club were putting so much faith in the young Romanian. What makes it worse is that while Fiorentina have struggled he still didn’t get a game last year. Ianis sat on the bench 28 times last season and only got on the pitch for a grand total of 48 minutes, playing twice.

Ianis now plays under his father who is the head coach of FC Viitorul Constanta. He has come to the defence of his son and has explained how he was fined because he complained about the to the lack of game time. It’s not too much of a surprise that Hagi didn’t get too much game time last season, but many were expecting to see a lot more of him this campaign. He was a young man who came to the club with a lot of potential, and It is fair to say a lot of fans would agree that he should have played more. The likes of Valentin Eysseric, Cyril Thereau, Gil Dias and Riccardo Saponara have all struggled to cement a place in the team, and the youthful exuberance of Hagi could have benefited The Viola. What is clear, if true, is that in Corvino’s mind it’s my way or the highway.

Gheorghe then goes on to compare Corvino to Nicolae Ceaușescu who was the General Secretary and last leader of the Romanian communist party. To sum up, how much Gheorghe Hagi dislikes Corvino, Ceausescu was hated by Romanians and was overthrown from government through public revolt. He and his wife (his second in command) were killed via firing squad on Christmas day 1989. Think that pretty much lets you know how much he doesn’t like Corvino. If you’re keen to learn more about dictator Nicolae Ceausescu take a look here.

One of the most intriguing parts of the interview is that he claims Fiorentina have €100 million to spend. If so where is that money? And why has it not been used? It’s apparent that the Delle Valles are keen on selling the club, but it’s unlikely that Gheorghe is in the loop with all the finances regarding the club. However, it would be nice if there was a war chest hidden somewhere waiting to be used. It’s more likely to be Hagi trying to create more drama and exaggerate the story.

There are so many things to dissect from this article and being the father of Ianis, it’s obvious he’s going to be a bit biased towards his son and is also trying to dramatize the story. However, its given a great insight into how Corvino treats his players and how the club is running.