Ianis Hagi on Rangers return inspiration from Wirtz and Chiesa as he pledges to 'push' in fitness race

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 all suffered 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 his 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 Wirtz at Bayer Leverkusen too. They were also out for 10 months or more and were struggling to get back into the team.

“It’s just part of the process. You just have to accept you’ve been out for a long time and football isn’t easy. Lately, there has been so many of these types of injuries. I’ve looked around at others who had the same.

“It always felt like 10, 15 or 20 games until they