Ianis Hagi was speaking to the media ahead of Rangers' meeting with Kilmarnock on Wednesday in the Scottish Premiership - here's every word he had to say after being awarded man of the match in a 1-0 win over St Johnstone.

How nice is it to be back out on the pitch and playing again?

Yeah, it's good, it's definitely good. Just a nice feeling, pulling the shirt again, having competition again. So yeah, I just love every second of it, so yeah, it's good.

Was there a moment that it maybe felt like it would never come, that you might never play for Rangers again, just given everything that was going on behind the scenes?

No, not exactly, because 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 with a professional. So I know in football everything changes quite quick, from good to bad and from bad to good. So I was just trying to control my environment, what I could do and be prepared for the next day. And whatever the next day would have been, I was ready. So yeah, I'm just happy right now that I'm back and I'm enjoying my football and I'm enjoying every second of it.

Was it quite tough looking on and seeing what's happening while you were featuring for the B team?

It's tough when you don't play football. And I've been in worse situations than this one with my injury, being away for a year and not being able to play. Now I was able to train and play with the B team. And shout out to them because they've been unbelievable with me for two or three months.
Just everything I needed to be ready and prepared physically to perform, they were open to it.
We even had chats about different trainings and different exercises. So it's been great. I have to thank them. I have to thank the coaches, the kids. They're so talented. They have so much hunger to perform. And I've tried to help as much as I could with my experience and talking to them every now and then. So it was a different experience, obviously. But you want to play professional football. So that's why I'm here. And, yeah, I'm just happy that I'm back.

Read more:

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What did the manager say to you when you were playing with the B team in terms of where he
saw your future?

We had a couple of discussions over the summer. And basically, that was it. I knew the situation from the first day I stepped in the training ground. And then after that, you know, I just took it day by day and see where that brought me. I obviously made my point clear what I see my future and where I see my future. So just normal conversations that you have. It's nothing, let's say, out of the normal day-to-day conversations that you usually have between players and staff. So there were conversations. And then it got to a certain point where we both wanted to win. And I'm back here.

When you say you made it clear, did you make it clear to him that you wanted to stay at Rangers?

Well, that won't be a private talk anymore if I have to tell you exactly what we discussed. And I don't think that's fair from my point of view, from his point of view. We have conversations, as I said, as every player and coach has. And that will stay between us. And right now, I'm just happy that I can help the team.

Were you ever close to leaving Rangers this summer? Was there ever an offer on the table that
made you think that's the one that I'm going to go and take and go and pursue?

Obviously, you're in the transfer market. Anything can happen at that point. And knowing the situation that I was in, obviously, my age as well, being 25, 26. So things were up in the air. No one can deny that. Everybody knows that. But what I made it clear is that wherever I am, I'm going to be 100% B team, first team, or somewhere else. I'm just going to respect football because it gave me so much. And it's the only thing that I love to do. And as I said, as I started the press conference, in football, everything changes every 24 hours. It's just crazy how the dynamics change in football. So for me, it was just about respecting football, playing football, being physically in the best shape possible every day, and then see where that brings me. And we're here now.

Was it your biggest test as a professional?

Obviously, it was a long period. You didn't know what was happening. You had to remain motivated. No, it wasn't the biggest test. Probably the biggest test was coming back from that injury, one-year injury. It's crazy because that was my only injury in football. I'm not an injury-prone player. That was the only injury that came out of a knock. It wasn't even – I never did it by myself. Someone kicked my leg. So that was tough. That was a challenge. This one, with the experience, probably if it happened earlier in my career, maybe it was tougher. But with my experience and understanding the football 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. So it was good. I had different experiences, as I said, also with the B team. Probably learned more about coaching as well, so did some exercises down there. But, yeah, I'm just desperate to progress. So even though I was with the B team, I think as a person, as a player, and probably as a future coach, I made some progress.

Do you have any sort of clarity on exactly what the problem was and how it was resolved?

The only clarity is that Rangers wants to win and the people that are running the club right now with the gaffer, obviously he wants to win, I want to win. And we're in a moment where I'm back playing, and I think that's the most important thing. Everything else, as I said, in football, it comes and goes. It doesn't really matter that much. And it's the football business. I think everyone here understands the football business, and football is based on opinions, and you can't fight when somebody has a different opinion. It's about just seeing who you are as a person, as a player, respecting football, and then one way or the other, at the end of the day, it will sort things out.
So, yeah, just that.

So just a contractual thing, in that sense?

I think those are details that should be kept between myself, my agents, and the club, the gaffer as well. So out of respect for everyone, and I think you can understand that. So, yeah, I think we're in a moment where football and winning is the most important thing right now, rather than obviously winning. Some of which I respect the questions, and I think I gave as much information as I could.

The team has struggled in parts this season. What do you think that's down to, and how do you go about rectifying that with what's left of this season?

I think that's a complex question, and it's probably not the right person to answer that, because I'm definitely not in control of so much stuff going around, in terms of the coach, the board, and all that. My responsibility is to come in and do my job as a number 10 for this football club. What I know and 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. I know what I can bring to the table. I've shown it in the past for this football club, and I'm just happy that right now I'm back in the mix, and I can do that. A lot of people in your situation would have felt it would be easier to have left the club.

Why did you want to stay at Rangers?

I love the club. Pure and simple.