Only a few months ago, Ianis Hagi had drifted so far out of the picture at Rangers that even the Hubble Telescope would have struggled to find him.
Having spent last season on loan with Deportivo Alaves in Spain, the Romanian midfielder returned to Rangers in the summer seeking a fresh start under Philippe Clement.
He was essentially exiled to the B team, however, due to a contractual issue which meant that one more game for the club would have triggered a wage rise.
Hagi became the forgotten man at Ibrox. So far removed from first-team football that he may as well have been in outer space.
In October, player and club eventually resolved their stand-off at long last. Hagi made his first start for Rangers in 18 months as they beat St Johnstone 1-0 in Perth last Sunday.
There was enough guile and creativity in his performance to suggest he could yet be a major asset for Clement.
Hagi celebrates with the travelling Rangers fans after his assist led to the winner on Sunday
Hagi insisted yesterday that he is loving life at Rangers and is eager to get back into action
The Romanian is hoping to bring a badly-needed spark to Philippe Clement’s struggling side
The Belgian has spoken of how Hagi is essentially a new signing, given he was unable to work with the 26-year-old playmaker until only a couple of months ago.
Hagi admitted that the period of uncertainty was far from ideal, with no guarantee he would ever kick a ball for the Ibrox club again.
Asked if he was ever close to leaving in the summer, and why he had ultimately chosen to stay, he said: ‘I love the club. Pure and simple.
‘Obviously, you’re in the transfer market. Anything can happen at that point.
‘Knowing the situation I was in, with my age as well, being 25, 26, things were up in the air. No one can deny that. Everybody knows that.
‘But what I made clear is that, wherever I am, I’m going to be giving 100 per cent. Whether that’s in the B team, first team, or somewhere else.
‘I’m just going to respect football because it gave me so much. It’s the only thing that I love to do. In football, everything changes every 24 hours.
‘It’s just crazy how the dynamics change. So, for me, it was just about playing football, being physically in the best shape possible, and then seeing where that brings me.
Despite being effectively frozen out for much of the season, Hagi insists he’s been content
‘It’s just a nice feeling, pulling on the shirt again, having competition again. I just love every second of it.
‘I’ve been around professional football for a while now. Even though I’m 26, I think I’m in my 10th season right now as a professional.
‘In football, everything changes quite quickly. I was just trying to control my environment, what I could do and be prepared for the next day.
‘Whatever the next day would have been, I was ready. I’m just happy right now that I’m back and enjoying my football.’
Previously in his Rangers career, between 2022 and 2023, Hagi missed a full year of football due to a serious knee injury.
He believes it gave him the mental strength to cope with whatever the game could throw at him.
The midfielder remained a regular starter for his country throughout his spell in the cold at Ibrox
Asked if his period in exile was the toughest of his career, he replied: ‘No. Probably the biggest test was coming back from my one-year injury.
‘It’s crazy because that was my only injury in football. I’m not an injury-prone player.
‘This period, probably if it happened earlier in my career, maybe it would have been tougher.
‘But with my experience and understanding the business and how things work, it made it easy because I knew how to approach it and how to get that challenge and get over it.’
After a positive display against Saints, Hagi will look to continue his revival when Rangers host Kilmarnock at Ibrox tonight.
Clement has tried several players in the No 10 role in his 4-2-3-1 system, all with varying degrees of success.
Hagi has been a scorer of some important goals for Rangers and is desperate to do so again
Mohamed Diomande and Tom Lawrence have been the two most regular occupants, but Hagi’s skillset seems most naturally suited to the role. Hagi insisted that his conversations with Clement and the nature of the contractual dispute would remain private, but he is ready to take the keys to No 10 in this Rangers team.
‘We had a couple of discussions over the summer. That was it,’ he said. ‘I knew the situation from the first day I stepped in the training ground.
‘I obviously made my point clear where I see my future. So, just normal conversations that you have. The only clarity is that Rangers want to win and the people that are running the club right now, with the gaffer, obviously he wants to win. I want to win.
‘But I do think those (contractual) details should be kept between myself, my agents, and the club, the gaffer as well. Out of respect for everyone, I think you can understand that.
‘My responsibility is to come in and do my job as a No 10 for this club. What I can do is to obviously step on the pitch and play my best football and be as creative as possible.
‘I’m not talking about assists or goals. I’m just talking about creating and giving different dynamics to the team.
If his performance against St Johnstone is anything to go by, Hagi could be a key man this term
‘I know what I can bring to the table. I’ve shown it in the past, and I’m just happy that right now I’m back in the mix and I can do that.’
Meanwhile, Clement reaffirmed the need for funds to be made available in January in order to strengthen the squad.
The Ibrox boss said: ‘I think it’s necessary (so) that we can do things.
‘Just like every team wants, and every manager wants. So we’ll see what’s possible.
‘I want us to score more goals — that’s a major one. We don’t concede much but we have to score more goals and be more lethal in the final third.’
