ONE is the only new recruit of the transfer window and the other is a returning star that feels like a new signing. All of sudden, Rangers have gone up a level under Michael Beale.

The acquisition of Todd Cantwell from Norwich City represented Beale's first foray into the market as manager. The process took time, but the patience that paid off when a contract was signed on Monday will prove worth it over the coming years.

Cantwell will make his debut in the Premiership fixture with St Johnstone this afternoon as the home crowd get their first chance to witness what the playmaker will bring to Beale's side and why the boss has spoken as highly about him in recent days.

At any other time, Cantwell would have been the main attraction and star of the show. Even he will have to take a back seat on this occasion, though, as Ibrox prepares to welcome back a hero of the 55 campaign and a player who needs no introduction in terms of his quality or his character.

The last time Ianis Hagi pulled on his boots, he saw his night come to a premature end in a Scottish Cup win over Stirling Albion. The 12 months since have been the most difficult and challenging, in a mental sense as well as a physical one, of his career and a lost year was a cruel blow for him to suffer.

Through it all, Beale has been a point of contact and a figure of support. Even when he was assisting Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa or managing Queens Park Rangers, Beale regularly thought of Hagi and reached out to check in on his recovery programme or just keep his spirits up.

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The reception that Hagi will receive as he takes his place in the squad will tell him everything about the esteem in which he is held by supporters. In the dugout, there will be a man and a manager that has his own reasons for being grateful the Romanian is fit and healthy once again.

"I just dropped him the odd text," Beale said when asked about keeping the lines of communication with Hagi open during his rehabilitation. "Obviously when he got the injury you want to support him through that became you know it’s going to be a long, hard 10 to 12 months for someone who is living away from his family and really does live for football.

"Ianis someone who, if he’s not playing, he’s talking about out or watching it. I was wondering how it was going to affect him mentally but he’s done ever so well.

"It’s great that he’s at the back end of it. It was the year’s anniversary last year from doing it and he came in talking about it when none of us wanted to talk about it as we felt we didn’t want to bring it up.

"He was very much thinking about it. He had this date set in mind probably four or five weeks ago and we’ve been working towards it so it’s great to have him back in the squad.

"It does feel like the equivalent of having another £4m player through the door. And if you get Todd Cantwell in the same window for nothing really then it’s a brilliant one for us.

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"I’m not going to sit here and say that someone’s a bargain or not a bargain but when I look at my squad this weekend with those two in it it’s certainly jumped up a level for very little."

It would be wrong for fans to expect too much too soon from Hagi given the journey that he has been on over the last year. He is not in line to play 90 minutes for a while yet, but the home fixtures with St Johnstone, Ross County and Partick Thistle offer an opportunity for the final hurdles to be overcome.

Beale acknowledged there could be 'teething problems' from the outset but expressed a belief that Hagi could be back up to speed by the end of next month. At 24, Hagi still has his best seasons ahead of him and the new contract that was signed last month was a show of faith from all parties.

"Missing this year has obviously been damaging for him," Beale said. "Just towards the end of my first time here, he was filling out.

"Always in Europe, in the games where there wasn’t so much physicality, and it wasn’t more about contact, it was about pure technique and the art of football, he always played really well.

"In those games against Braga, he was absolutely outstanding. Just before we left, he scored a fantastic goal away at Brondby in the group stage of the Europa League.

"He has probably been robbed of a year of his career. He is even more eager.

"He has filled out a little bit. If you see him [against St Johnstone], you will see that. I think his best days are in front of him both for Rangers and for his national team."

That same confidence can be placed in Cantwell. His situation is very different to that of Hagi but he has his own questions to answer after reaching a crossroads in his career.

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The Englishman was open and honest about the struggles he has endured in recent seasons when he spoke at his unveiling earlier this week. His progress has stalled but a move to Ibrox is designed to get him moving through the gears once again.

"You have to ask why a player has lost their way," Beale said. "Is it an injury that’s set them back? Is it circumstances?

"In Todd’s case, he had two promotions, played in the Premier League really well, probably at times had moves that were there and didn’t go.

"And then Norwich changed manager quite a bit. So he’s probably found himself in a bit of a tumble drier of emotions and everything. But he’s a hugely talented player."

Cantwell's natural ability has been clear for some time and that would have been the first attraction for Beale as he pinpointed the 24-year-old as the man to add a creative nous and cutting edge to his Ibrox midfield.

The playmaker will let his feet do the talking. A series of conversations with Beale were crucial to the move being completed, though, as both were left excited by what the future could hold for Cantwell and for Rangers.

"You just listen to the hopes and the aims he has moving forward," Beale said. "Do they align with ours? You talk about the way the team play, how he fits.

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"He has to speak to his people, we come back, we weigh the whole thing up. We were on the page quite early.

"Todd had a lot of interest. He had a lot of really good options in the UK and in Europe as well. There were some clubs interested.

"We hit it off on a one-to-one, it’s fair to say. He’s got no guarantees. He’s got to come in here and perform because we have good, good players in the position he plays.

"But he is certainly a player of interest to us. If he does what I think he can do, we’ve got a really, really good player."