Sent on loan to Eupen by Oostende at the beginning of last season, Rocky Bushiri’s career wasn’t going to plan.
The Belgian side didn’t seem to have faith in him, hence the temporary deal, yet he proved them wrong by having a great year (making Belgium’s U21 squad for the Euros), and the 19-year-old now finds himself a Norwich City player after signing a four-year contract from the newly promoted side.
Whether he gets any game time with the Canaries’ first-team next season will be up to himself and Daniel Farke, but Bushiri knows he might have to wait, as he explained to DH in an interview following his transfer.
He said: “Norwich want to help me grow. Those in charge know my qualities well, they know I can’t go too quickly. It’s a long term project. That’s why I signed for four years. It’s not short-term. It’s reassuring, there’s a really personal approach”.
With a career goal of having a long spell in English football, the player has taken the first step in that direction, and he knows this could be huge for him to achieve his ambitions.
He continued: “The staff have reassured me about it being a big step. It’s a new challenge. The aim is to continue to develop. Each player needs time to adapt, so we’ll see. I need to take this step by step. That’s why I might end up going on loan this season to get maximum game time”.
That last part isn’t a guarantee, but it appears to be something Norwich have already discussed with the young defender, and he seems up for it.
As to where he’ll be in a year’s time, he said: “Only God knows. I know where I want to end up, but I’m keeping that for myself”.
