GETTING back on the grass ‘felt like home’ for Ianis Hagi as he edges ever closer to a return to action for Rangers.
The 24-year-old struggled to put into words the feeling of getting his boots back on as he made a huge step in his recovery from an ACL injury.
Sitting down for an exclusive interview with RangersTV this week, Hagi said patience and hard work were key over the past 10 months and thanked the club and medical staff for their support.
He said: “I am in a good place mentally and I think that is most important for me right now. Physically I am growing every week, I can see progression and that is always positive - I am happy.
“I remember the first day I put my boots on and I started running, just touching the grass, feeling the grass, smelling the grass, it just felt like home. It is a different feeling you could never have anywhere else.
“Even a small run of 10 minutes, I probably enjoy it twice as much as I was enjoying it before the injury. It just makes you realise how much you have grown since you were a kid and reaching your dreams and working for them - you just feel good.
“I have been blessed to be able to work with professional guys throughout my rehab. Every person, even if just for a day, they have all helped me a lot to progress and keep me as fit as possible.
“At the same time they respected my injury, they knew it wasn’t always good to push this injury and you have to understand the knee and listen to the knee. Right now it is just another step to the final destination and hopefully getting back on the pitch as soon as possible and hitting the ground running.”
Looking back on the early weeks which followed the injury in January, Hagi said it was important to stay balanced, take time away but also remain around the squad as much as possible.
He continued: “I was growing every season at Rangers and I was enjoying my football so much but then in football you need just one second and everything can stop for you.
“It is a tough one to take but it is what it is, it is a rollercoaster through the journey and you have to accept it. Sometimes you just wake up so positively and go into training so happy then suddenly it hits you what just happened and you have to just balance yourself and find a midway.
“My first period when I was just on crutches I couldn't do much. I was here in Glasgow and afterwards I had a period in Amsterdam. I have to thank the club for this, they have been really open to what was mentally good for me and being in different places.
“I was in Amsterdam, back home in Romania and here at times as well supporting the team. It was really important for me and obviously throughout all of these periods I always had the physio with me and I always worked trying to get back as soon as possible.
“Since the new season I have been back in Glasgow, I was in Portugal in pre-season and I had a week off. That was my only week off in the last nine and a half months. It was really good coming back here, being with the team and feeling like I am getting close.
“You want to be here, you want to be around the lads so it has been a tough one mentally and physically but I can see I am close to my final destination and there is no better feeling.”
WATCH a short trailer below or subscribers can watch in full on RangersTV HERE.