Rangers have been boosted by the news that influential attacking midfielder Ianis Hagi could return for the Europa League opener against Lyon – thanks to the Romanian FA.
The Romanian international tested positive for Covid-19 whilst in North Macedonia for a World Cup Qualifier and there were real fears the player could have to isolate for 20 days.
According to the Scottish Sun, under Macedonian rules those testing positive must isolate for 10 days with those still experiencing symptoms expected to isolate for 20.
This had many fearing Hagi could miss at least five Rangers games with the impact of the virus itself and isolation on Hagi’s fitness potentially keeping him out for longer.
However, the same newspaper has now claimed that Hagi is set to avoid a nightmare 20-day isolation period [Scottish Sun].
Whilst the newspaper doesn’t go into any great detail regarding the whys and hows of Hagi’s avoidance of the isolation protocols, it claims the Romania FA have agreed to a “compromise”.
“It’s understood the Romanian FA have agreed a compromise to stop that, and could have freed up Hagi in time for next Thursday’s crunch tie,” reads the report.
This would come as a sizeable boost to Rangers with the match against Group A’s top seeds Lyon at Ibrox the perfect opportunity to lay down a marker in the Europa League.
Rangers have reached the tournament’s group stages for the fourth year in a row in an achievement which stands amongst the biggest of Steven Gerrard’s tenure.
The Ibrox manager has transformed Rangers’ fortunes on and off the field with qualification for the Europa League the bare minimum the club expects going forward.
That’s a long way from playing in Scottish Division 3 and a surefire sign of the immense progress made at Ibrox over the last few seasons.
The good news surrounding Hagi isn’t the only piece of injury news which has boosted Rangers this week, even if one player was left bitterly disappointed internationally.
