Filip Helander holds no Rangers grudges after injury torture as he declares 'I'll always have THAT goal against Celtic'

It’s April 10, 2022. Filip Helander feels a pain in his foot and sits on the grass at St Mirren Park. He will never play for Rangers again.

His injury, called a Lisfranc, is extremely rare for footballers. It’s more common in NFL or NBA stars. But it ended his Ibrox career, even if he didn’t know it at the time. When he left Glasgow last summer, plenty of Rangers fans felt Helander was finished. The player had suffered a series of setbacks. The supporters, too many false dawns.

So when Sweden’s team-sheet was released for their friendly against Moldova a fortnight ago, they’d have given it a double take. Almost 18 months later, Helander was back at the heart of his country’s defence. And he kept his place for the abandoned Euro 2024 qualifier against Belgium. Incredibly, Helander was picked ahead of ex-Celtic centre-back Carl Starfelt and current Parkhead defender Gustaf Lagerbielke.

It must have made anyone of a Rangers persuasion wonder what might have been. Helander feels the same. There is no bitterness about being allowed to leave the Ibrox club in May. And when he reflects on his time in Glasgow, he deliberately focuses on the positives.

A title win in 2021, an Old Firm derby winner, terrific performances in Europe. But Helander will always ask himself that if certain medics had advised him properly, could he still be at Rangers now?

In an exclusive interview with Record Sport , the Swede spoke for the first time about the injury that threatened to wreck his career, the mental torture of not being able to pull on a blue shirt, how he left Ibrox – and his sensational return to action.

Now at Danish club Odense, Helander said: “It feels wonderful to be playing again. I was out for a long time. Of course, during