Hibs activate loan clause to make Rocky Bushiri signing permanent

Rocky Bushiri has made the permanent switch to Hibs after he activated a clause in his loan agreement.

He has now signed a three-year deal with the club.

The Belgian defender arrived at Easter Road midway through last season on loan from Norwich City, and produced mixed performances in his 15 appearances as he tried to settle into Scottish football.

In a difficult season for the Leith side, in which they sacked two managers and saw out the latter stages of the campaign with an interim coaching team, the 22-year-old found it difficult to convince the support he was the answer to their woes.

However, having played a predetermined number of games, he triggered the option of a longer deal and will now join the rest of the squad when they return for pre-season training on June 18.

A player with a decent pedigree - the powerful centre-back was the youngest-ever debutant for KV Oostende and has been capped at Belgium U-21 level.

But it is not just the fans he has to win over. New Hibs manager Lee Johnson is working to strengthen the squad and improve on last season’s league position, and has his own system and tactics.

“Rocky has a lot of attributes to be successful in his career,” acknowledged the Englishman. “He has obvious strengths and it’ll be interesting to see how quickly he can adapt to a new playing style.”

Rocky Bushiri will return to Easter Road under Lee Johnson. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Head of Recruitment Ian Gordon added: “Rocky is just 22, has played over 80 senior matches, and has a lot of room for improvement. We believe we can add value to him that’ll benefit the Club in the future.”