My pal Chiesa Fed me tips on how I’d get back playing
Hagi is staying patient to make best recovery from ACL injury
Ianis Hagi has revealed how the struggles of Euro stars Florian Wirtz and Federico Chiesa kept him calm on his injury comeback.
Now their triumphant returns can inspire the Romanian ace to get back to his best for Rangers.
German wonderkid Wirtz, Juventus winger Chiesa and Hagi al l suf fered anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries early last year.
Hagi made sure to plug in to their pathways through the grind of rehab. In the case of former Fiorentina team-mate Chiesa, he tapped into a personal account of the trauma.
Hagi couldn’t help but note there was nothing hasty about their comeback attempts.
Often a scheduled return date was pushed back. And even when thrust into first- team action, baby steps were required.
Chiesa played in November but has only made two Serie A starts. Wirtz is still only 19 but was given 11 months before featuring for Bayer Leverkusen’s first-team again.
Having done his due diligence, Hagi refuses to feel frustrated at 53 weeks between appearances for Rangers.
When quizzed on being desperate to target Celtic in the Viaplay Cup Final, he admits making a lasting impression for Gers is more important than one-impact hit.
It might be a month or two yet before he’s back to hi s mesmerising peak for Gers and Hagi said: “I kept in contact with Federico, I was team-mates with him in Fiorentina.
“He had an ACL injury. And d Wirtz at Bayer Leverkusen too. o. They were also out for 10 months s or more and were struggling to o get back into the team.
“It’s just part of the process. s. You just have to accept you’ve e been out for a long time and d football isn’t easy.
“Lately, there has been so manyy of these types of injuries. I’vee looked around at others who hadd the same.
“It always felt like 10, 15 or 200 games until they actually startedd to play consistently in the team.m.
“I push myself, of course. That’ss my mentality – to do it as soon as possible. But at the same time I have to be realistic being out a year. So maybe it does take 10 games, maybe 20, I don’t know.
“I’ve seen other players out for a month, two months, three months and STILL struggled during their first games.
“I don’t want to be too harsh on myself but I’m a guy who always strives to get better.”
Chiesa is firmly back in Juve’s plans now and Wirtz scored a Europa League screamer against Monaco on Thursday that lit up the BayArena.
H ag ii snot short of encouragement, then, after enjoying a 20-minute substitute outing against St Johnstone then the first half against Partick Thistle last Sunday.
When injured against Stirling in January last year, he initially thought it was a minor knock and it was “mind- blowing” to learn of the damage.
Advice from close pal Carlo Casap, his Romanian national youth team-mate, was vital.
“My best friend had two ACL injuries – on both his knees – and he’s still playing,” Hagi said.
“When he got injured the first time, we were room-mates back in Romania.
“I kind of knew what he went through emotionally. It helped me. Maybe I would’ve been shocked and taken it worse than I did. But having people that had been through this, I relaxed a little bit, understood the situation and didn’t go into it negatively.”
Hagi has barely wasted a minute during his rehab. He has learned a new language, not missed a beat of his other favourite sport basketball and started feeding a mind intent on managing later in life.
“This definitely makes me stronger as a person,” he insisted. “I never like to be happy with what I am and who I am.
“I always try to push myself and discover my limits.
“I’ve been doing this in terms of football and off the pitch but football just grabbed every minute that I had in life. In the last yeayear, I’d more time to figure out what I could get better at.
“I’m getting quite good at Spanish now. I love basketball so I watched a lot of that and then there’s coaching.
“It’s something I’ve been growing into, with my father being a manager for a long time and just studying dif ferent books, watching different Netflix series about coaching.
“Not only football but coaching in different sports. I’ve been trying to understand the game from another angle. I see a future for myself coaching.”
The immediate future is all about Rangers as he signed a contract unti l 2026 before Christmas.
That conquered the self-doubts surfacing from missing time and more Ibrox managerial upheaval.
He said: “The injury stalled things a bit and it was a very long process but I knew the belief they had in me.
“It was important, especially in a low period of my career and after a manager change.
“You always have questions, especially when you can’t prove yourself on the pitch. But it was an advantage because I knew Michael Beale from before.
“Now it’s the challenge of competing for a place. Getting to the Europa League Final, winning domestic trophies. You can’t do that with 11 players.
“It’s Rangers, you expect this competition that pushes you every day.”