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Gheorghe Hagi lifts lid on Ianis Hagi's Rangers exit after 'difficult' year at Ibrox
Gheorghe Hagi has lifted the lid on son Ianis Hagi’s Rangers exit, suggesting that the Romanian international is now on the right track after a “difficult” year.
Hagi missed the majority of Rangers’ season last year having suffered an ACL injury, only making four appearances for the Light Blues and found himself out of favour having returned to fitness under the management of Michael Beale this season.
The 25-year-old joined Deportivo Alaves on a season-long loan and while things have started slowly for him in La Liga, his father Gheorghe believes that the Rangers loanee is returning to his best after such a major injury.
In an interview with Pro Sport as quoted by the Daily Record (20 November) he said: “I’m happy for Ianis because he went through a very difficult year. To come back after 12 months of injuries, he worked very hard. He’s on the right track.
“From a physical point of view, he looks good and we are happy that he is on the field. That’s what we want, for him to be healthy. Then, we know what he’s capable of doing.
“I saw a player who dedicated himself to come back – he did everything possible. He did well, he dedicated himself, he also got personal physiotherapists to help him.
“He paid for the injury but he has grown to many things. From a physical point of view, he has developed very well, he has matured, he is stronger, he has seen a lot of football, he has analysed, and these things make him much smarter on the field.”
Missing out
Beale’s decision to send Hagi away from Ibrox for a season looks to have been a slightly strange one, given the 25-year-old’s excellent international break with Romania. With each passing game, Hagi is beginning to look more and more like himself.
It seems as though all aspects of the Romanian’s game are developing as well as he continues to grow, analyse and mature off of the field and while Rangers may not be reaping those rewards currently, they could well be able to in the future.
When Philippe Clement arrived at Ibrox, he said that all the players in the squad had a clean slate from which to operate and while Hagi may not currently reside in Glasgow, he too will have a clean slate when he returns at the conclusion of his loan spell.
Many would have written off his Rangers career as already coming to an end, but assuming he stays fit and firing, there is no reason why the attacking midfielder can’t take his development and demonstrate it in front of the Ibrox crowd once again.
In other Rangers news, one journalist has slammed Cyriel Dessers suggesting he’ll never make the grade at Ibrox