Journalist Scott Barrie has urged Rangers manager Michael Beale to play Ianis Hagi more often amid controversy over his lack of a call-up to the Romanian national side.

What's the latest on Ianis Hagi and Rangers?

Throughout this current season, the Ibrox midfielder has struggled for regular game time with just three appearances in the league to his name.

However, the main reason behind his lack of minutes has been a long-term knee injury and in recent weeks Hagi has been steadily featuring a bit more regularly as he rebuilds his fitness.

Despite having seemingly now overcome his injury, the 24-year-old wasn't picked to play for Romania in the current international break, which has sparked some controversial comments from his father and legendary player Gheorghe.

While Hagi's career with his national team remains unclear, Barrie has spoken about how he hopes the attacker is given the chance to mpress at Ibrox soon.

Speaking on the Rangers Review podcast, he said (17:52): "I also would like to see Hagi play domestically."

Before continuing: "That 55 season [2020/21] his numbers were really impressive. I think he gives you something different because Rangers don't really have a midfielder from central areas and maybe they do a bit more with Raskin now.

"But they don't really have a player like Hagi who can kind of split open defences and play those reverse passes, he's obviously two-footed and he can do that from central areas.

"So I don't actually think you've seen the best of Hagi you for well over a year and a half. Because before his injury, he was playing a position that just didn't suit him. I know he wasn't kind of hugging the touchline in the same way as [Ryan] Kent, but he wasn't playing in a central possession. You didn't have runners ahead of him.

"So I'd like to think there's a role for both of them [including Malik Tillman in the team going forward."

Will Hagi get a chance to impress at Rangers this season after injury?

As per the Daily Record, Hagi's father was infuriated after his son was not called up to play any part in their Euro 2024 qualifying games and accused national manager Edi Iordanescu of ignoring Ianis.

Clearly, it's quite a mess on that front but things need not be so bad back in Scotland. After all, the 24-year-old has shown plenty of quality in the past and has 15 goals and 21 assists in 90 games for the club, while also winning the league and the Scottish cup.

With that in mind, he certainly has the talent to make himself an important player for Beale once fully fit again, but it remains to be seen how much of a chance he will get.