Rangers: Ianis Hagi ‘three or four more months’ away from injury return
Ianis Hagi has not played a minute for Rangers since the Scottish Cup win at home to Stirling Albion and his return is still a long way away.
The Romanian international has been posting videos of his rehabilitation on Instagram and supporters were starting to gain hope that he might be back before the 2022-23 season begins in July.
But his father Gheorghe Hagi, who played for Real Madrid and Barcelona during his playing career, has said that his son is still some way from being ready to play for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side.
“Ianis is very well, I went to the Europa League Final to see him,” he said, as quoted by the Scottish Daily Express.
“And I will see him for longer because he is coming on holiday with us too. He has done about 50 per cent of his recovery and still has 50 per cent of work to do.
“His knee is as strong as it was before and actually probably stronger than before the injury. He’s on the right track and his rehabilitation has worked very well.
“But it’s still going to take three or four more months for him to return. Ianis will get over this difficult moment in his career though.”
Setback
We were all really looking forward to welcoming Hagi back as soon as the season got underway and everything he has posted on social media has shown him progressing nicely so this is a real blow.
His dynamic style of play is something we perhaps missed after he was ruled out for the season, especially in tight games that needed that moment of magic to separate two sides.
But for now, van Bronckhorst has to plan for the season’s start without him and just be glad whenever he is able to return.
The Romanian will be brought back into the side as soon as he is able to and the reception he’ll get at Ibrox will be deafening.
With John Lundstram holding down the fort and Joe Aribo there to make late runs into the area from midfield, the final spot of the trio is almost ready-made for Hagi who can float around and create from deep with the occasional burst into space to change the tempo of the game.
In other Rangers news, the Light Blues are now in the top 10 of the UEFA coefficient of the last five years and there is no Celtic in sight.