Bhoys’ Belgian heavyweights inspiring Rocky
AS an aspiring Belgian central defender, Rocky Bushiri is not short of role models. Vincent Kompany, captain of both Manchester City and his country’s golden generation of talent, was always the main man as Bushiri grew up.
Yet, in career terms, the Hibs defender has chosen to follow the examples of two current Red Devils internationalists who moved to Scotland in order to make the big leap forward.
Jason Denayer was first to move to Glasgow, forming a formidable partnership with Virgil van Dijk during his loan season at Parkhead in 2014-15.
Denayer would go on to play for Galatasaray and now Lyon and his exit from Celtic coincided with Dedryck Boyata’s arrival, this time on a permanent deal from City. Boyata would spend four years at Parkhead, blossoming under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers and emerging as a key player for this country at the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020.
Bushiri has moved to Easter Road on loan from Norwich City, a move aided by Shaun Maloney’s previous role with the Belgian FA and helped by Bushiri’s interest in emulating his compatriots.
As fate would have it, he would debut at Celtic Park on January 17 in the first game following the winter shutdown. He lost that night but has now settled in and is feeling better ahead of today’s return fixture — and not just on account of home advantage.
‘The last Celtic game was my first professional game for 10 months,’ said Bushiri. ‘March was my last game, so I am obviously now in a better position. I know about Celtic from a few friends, plus Boyata and Denayer used to play there. They’re a big team in Scotland and they have won the league so many times.
‘Before coming here I spoke with Boyata’s dad because he is close with my dad and my uncle.
‘It’s exciting. You want to do good against the top teams, everyone is really motivated.’
Bushiri started out at Oostende before moving to Norwich in 2019. Rated highly within the Belgian youth system, he has been capped seven times at Under-21 level, drawing comparisons with his hero along the way.
‘Vincent Kompany was my favourite,’ he said. ‘When I was playing youth football, they compared me to him because of my physicality. Like him, I also made my debut early.
‘I had no fear. At youth team level, I was captain of most of my teams and he was my model.
‘For me, the comparisons were a great motivation, not a pressure.
‘The national team would share a hotel with the 21s, and some of the boys, like me, would meet in the reception to play FIFA.
‘I crossed him a few times and just had some talks with him, but mostly I was talking with Romelu Lukaku because I used to be at Oostende with his brother.’
Platitudes are all well and good, but Bushiri knows he must make his own name. He disputes the suggestion that by moving away from Norwich to the Scottish top flight he has somehow regressed. And he won’t rule out staying beyond the end of the season.
‘I don’t call it a step back because while I may have been at a Premier League team, I was not playing any games in the Premier League,’ he explained.
‘I just want stability again — to be playing games and looking forward. The rest, the details and different stuff, we will see.
‘I need to be good here. I’m not thinking especially about Norwich, there’s lots of football teams in the world. I’m focused on doing good here at Hibs. I don’t see a rush to leave. If I’m good here, why not?
‘The future is for the future. I’m doing well right now and I’m really happy here.’