Glasgow Rangers have received another blow regarding Ianis Hagi and his recovery from the injury he suffered back in January.

The 23-year-old's dad, footballing icon Gheorghe Hagi, was speaking to Romanian TV (via the Daily Record) about the problem, saying:

"I don't know whether Ianis will play this year or not.

“He is in his last period of rehabilitation, but that won't be a short period of time either. It takes time. He has returned to light training and he is beginning to get used to the effort and power required that you need on the pitch.

"We are all hoping he comes back as soon as possible. I'm not in Glasgow, so I don't know exactly how well he is doing. The Rangers doctors and medical staff...they will know his progress a lot better than me."

This assessment will indeed worry the Ibrox faithful and Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who only last month said Hagi would return before the domestic season halted for the 2022 World Cup.

Before he was injured, Hagi had scored four goals and grabbed four assists, while he played a crucial role in helping the Ibrox side win their first Premiership title in a decade during 2020/2021, contributing with six goals and nine assists.

The Light Blues have certainly missed his creativity this season as they have struggled in the Champions League. Last season he made 1.5 key passes per match, proving he carved plenty of openings for his teammates. Rangers have struggled to break teams down at times this season and this came to head earlier this month, with three consecutive thrashings to Celtic, Ajax, and Napoli.

The £20k-per-week Romanian was described by former manager Steven Gerrard as “an absolute dream to work with” and since he suffered the injury, Van Bronckhorst hasn’t properly replaced him.

Rangers face another crucial match tomorrow at lunchtime when they take on Heart of Midlothian at Ibrox and can leapfrog Celtic, albeit temporarily, at the top of the table with a victory.