Rangers star Ianis Hagi has opened up on his time at Italian side Fiorentina, insisting it wasn’t a “setback” despite barely featuring for La Viola during his time in Serie A.
Despite being stuck on the fringes of the side, the Rangers star worked alongside the likes of Euro 2020 winner Federico Bernardeschi in the City of Lillies before returning to Romania .
The Rangers number 7 thinks that really helped his career and believes his time with Fiorentina was part of the “process of being a football player” as he looked to find the positives to take from his spell in Florence.
“I wouldn’t say it was a setback – in a year and a half I learned so many things,” Hagi told the Guardian.
“Making the step to Italy at that age was huge for me and it was good to be in a dressing room with 15 international players and train with them every day.
“The players in my position as No 10 were Mauro Zárate, Federico Bernardeschi and Josip Ilicic, who have all had great careers at a very high level so I learned so much from being around them.
“It was part of my process of being a football player. When I returned to Romania for a year and half, I was the best player in the play-offs for two years in a row so it just shows how much I had improved.
“By then I felt really mature because of everything I had been through. If you know how to take positives out of anything negative then that’s the most important thing.”
Hagi on the cusp of being a vital player for Rangers and Gerrard
Despite popping up with important goals and assists since joining the Gers, Hagi is still to really cement himself as one of Steven Gerrard’s key players at Rangers.
The Romanian has shown some real flashes of brilliance but needs to start performing at a consistent level to show exactly why he is so highly-regarded.
With so much at stake this season for Rangers, this could be the perfect opportunity for Hagi to take that step from being a young player with lots of potential to a bona-fide top class player.
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