Ianis Hagi's Rangers return timeline revealed as playmaker begins 'gruelling recovery programme'

Injured Ianis Hag i expects to be out for six months after his knee operation, according to one of his closes allies.

The Rangers star was ruled out for the rest of the season after picking up a knee injury in their Scottish Cup win over Stirling Albion.

He underwent surgery and is out for the campaign, but former Rapid and Dinamo Bucharest president and friend of the family, Dinu Gheorghe, reckons Hagi is very optimistic he can return stronger for Gio van Bronckhorst next season.

He said: "I have spoken to Ianis and he will recover strongly. The operation was a complete success and went very well.

"The operation was performed by a specialist in his field and Ianis said the most important thing for him was to focus on recovering properly.

"It's a gruelling recovery programme. He will be in a strict schedule that he must stick to hour-by-hour, day-by-day. But I am convinced he will return stronger.

"He will be out for six months and that means it's a pity for our new manager Edi Iordanescu that he will be missing for the international matches in June too."