Philippe Clement revealed Rangers and Ianis Hagi worked together to solve a “contract issue” which saw the Romania international return to training with the first team.
The 25-year-old has not featured for the Ibrox club for more than a year after spending most of last season on loan at Spanish side Alaves and then being frozen out at the start of this season, with another start set to trigger a wage rise.
Sky Sports News revealed the player turned down moves to Rapid Bucharest and Universitatea Craiova, despite interest from his homeland, during the transfer window – and he was willing to renegotiate that clause in his contact.
Clement had said that Hagi – son of Romania hero Gheorghe – was free “to look out for other opportunities” but the player has re-joined the group ahead of the Europa League clash with Lyon at Ibrox on Thursday night, albeit he is not in the European squad.
“It was a contract issue from before my time, so the issue is solved,” said boss Clement. “Both parties, the club and Hagi, came together and now it’s resolved.
“Clearly I’m happy then that this situation that I didn’t like to have, is resolved now.
Hagi had been training with the B team and turned down moves away to Romania in the summer
“So it’s normal, he’s back in the squad training and getting him back to his best level is now the job. It is a new signing because I was never able to work with him.
“He’s not an option yet, so there’s a way to go of course, but the more players you can have that can make a difference for your team, the better as a gaffer.
“He behaved all the time well and our contact was good all the time, so there was never a problem between us.
“We met each other a lot of times here in the building, so he did everything that you expect from a professional player. In those situations it’s maybe not always the case, but he’s been an example in that way for sure.
“He trained with the second team and we let him play games with the second team to keep his fitness as high as possible.
“So we will see the next days, the next weeks, how that is. And it’s about fighting for the places in the squad, in the team. It’s the same for him as for other players.”
Asked if he got involved in trying to get both parties to find a solution, Clement said: “I don’t want to respond to that, that’s internal business.”
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