RANGERS midfielder Ianis Hagi has given an update on his recovery from his knee injury.

Here is everything he had to say to Rangers TV.

How are you feeling?

Yeah, I’m good. I’m in a good place mentally and I think that’s the most important thing for me right now. Physically I’m growing every week. I can see progression and that’s always positive. I’m happy. I was growing every season into Rangers and I was enjoying my football so much but in football, you need only one second when everything can just stop for you. It’s a tough one to take but it is what it is. It’s a rollercoaster journey and you have to accept it. Sometimes you wake up so positively and you’re going into training so happy and then suddenly it just hits you. You have to just balance yourself and find a midway. You have to try not to overlook the situation but at the same time try to keep your feet on the ground and work every day and be patient. I think that’s the key.

Can you take us through the various stages of your recovery and what’s been involved since that moment last January?

My first period where I was just on crutches and I couldn’t do much I was here in Glasgow. Afterwards, I had a period where I was in Amsterdam. I have to thank the club for this, they were really open to what was mentally good for me and just being in different places in Amsterdam, back home in Romania and here at times as well supporting the team. It was really important for me and throughout all these periods I always had the physio with me and I always worked to try and get back as soon as possible. Since the start of the season, I’ve been back in Glasgow. I was in Portugal for the pre-season then I had a week off. That was my only week off in the last nine and a half months and it was really good. Coming back here just being with the team and feeling that I’m getting close, it’s always positive. You want to be here and you want to be around the lads. It’s been a tough one and a rollercoaster mentally and physically but I can see I’m close to my final destination. There’s no better feeling, especially to experience it with everyone around here, it’s twice as good.

You don’t want the injury to happen but you’re at a good place with some of the best physios in the country and the support they can give you.

For sure, I think I’ve been blessed to work with professional guys throughout my rehab. Every person, even if they helped me just for a day, they’ve all helped me a lot to progress and keep me as fit as possible to try and recover as soon as possible. At the same time, they respected my injury, they knew it’s not always good to push this injury and you have to understand and listen to the knee. Right now it’s another step to the final destination and hopefully, get back on the pitch as soon as possible and hit the ground running.

How have you been as a supporter in the last nine months or so?

It’s so different to what you experience on the pitch. The emotions are definitely higher. They are twice as high as being on the pitch physically. I get why the fans get frustrated at times. I get why they always have high expectations of the club and the team. Look, it’s been amazing for the club to get to a European final and winning the Scottish Cup last season. This year, I think the team has been so unlucky with so many long-term injuries. It’s mixed feelings to be a fan but I’d definitely prefer to be on the pitch rather than on the sidelines.

Were you still able to feel part of those big moments?

Yeah, definitely. It was so important for me to be around the club and around the team. Experiencing the European nights that we had last season was unbelievable. Also, Seville, even though we didn’t manage to win the final but just the days before the final, everybody around there and the fans was special. It’s a unique club and you always want to give joy to the fans. The amount of support they bring to the games is out of this world. You always want to do good for this club for the sake of the fans. What they give you day in and day out every week and every game whether it’s away or at home, European or domestic, it’s just on another level.

Do you think the injury has changed you in a good sense? Has there been a chance to learn things about football and yourself?

Definitely. I think it opened different doors. I like coaching so even though I’m young I’m always keen. I’ve grown up beside my father and him being a coach. I always looked at games differently and even now, having more free time, I’ve been reading different books trying to understand the perspective of a coach and trying to look at games from different angles. Not just individually on what I have to do but understand the team game and what you have to do and the decisions that a coach has to make. Individually, I’ve been trying to learn another language so I’m better with my Spanish now. I’ve just been trying to develop myself as a person. I knew I had a lot of time away from the pitch and I knew I had to grow in these nine months and not stagnate. I’ve been trying to improve myself in every aspect.

Rangers Review: (Image: NQ)

How many languages do you speak now?

English, Italian, a bit of Spanish, Romanian obviously and also the dialect that I speak with my family. It’s different to Romanian but I consider that a language as well.

How have your family helped in your recovery?

I’ve mentioned the club and everybody who has worked with me in terms of rehab and I’ve been blessed with that. But I can never forget the people I love and my family being close to me literally everywhere even in Glasgow. I remember my first month and a half to two months when I was just on crutches and I couldn’t do much, I had my mother doing things for me that she hadn’t done for me since I was three or four years old. I’m a 24-year-old guy and I can do everything. I’ve been living by myself since I was 17 so I’m used to doing everything by myself and not asking for help whereas I had to always ask people to help me. To have family and loved ones doing that for you is a special and unique feeling. I will never take that for granted.

We’ve seen you back on the pitch in the last couple of weeks, getting back on the grass must’ve been a big moment for you.

I remember the first day when I put my boots on and started running and just touching the grass, feeling the grass and smelling the grass. It just felt like home. It’s a different feeling that you can never have anywhere else. I enjoy even a small run of 10 minutes probably twice as much as before the injury. It just makes you realise how long and how much you’ve grown since you were a kid. Reaching your dreams and working for them is a feeling that is really hard to put into words. It’s such a unique feeling.

Do you still enjoy Glasgow as much as when you arrived almost three years ago?

Yeah, 100 per cent. I always have a laugh with the physios whenever it rains outside the training is always better than if it was a dry day. I pray every morning for rain because my knee feels so much better when it rains. I guess my body just got used to the cold and rainy weather. Hopefully, it rains from now until I get back on the pitch with the team.

READ MORE: