| Rocky Bushiri | |
| Fullname: | Rocky Bushiri Kisonga[1] |
| Birth Date: | 30 November 1999 |
| Birth Place: | Duffel, Belgium |
| Height: | 1.87m |
| Position: | Centre-back |
| Currentclub: | Hibernian |
| Clubnumber: | 33 |
| Youthyears1: | 2014–2017 |
| Youthclubs1: | K.V. Oostende |
| Years1: | 2017–2019 |
| Clubs1: | K.V. Oostende |
| Caps1: | 2 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2018–2019 |
| Clubs2: | → Eupen (loan) |
| Caps2: | 31 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 2019–2022 |
| Clubs3: | Norwich City |
| Caps3: | 0 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Years4: | 2019 |
| Clubs4: | → Blackpool (loan) |
| Caps4: | 4 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Years5: | 2020 |
| Clubs5: | → Sint-Truiden (loan) |
| Caps5: | 7 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Years6: | 2020–2021 |
| Clubs6: | → Mechelen (loan) |
| Caps6: | 6 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Years7: | 2021 |
| Clubs7: | → Eupen (loan) |
| Caps7: | 1 |
| Goals7: | 0 |
| Clubs8: | → Hibernian (loan) |
| Years8: | 2022 |
| Caps8: | 14 |
| Goals8: | 0 |
| Clubs9: | Hibernian |
| Years9: | 2022 - |
| Caps9: | 41 |
| Goals9: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 05:51, 16 May 2024 (UTC) |
| Nationalyears1: | 2017 |
| Nationalteam1: | Belgium U19 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 2 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2018–2019 |
| Nationalteam2: | Belgium U21 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 7 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 0 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2023 - |
| Nationalteam3: | DR Congo |
| Nationalcaps3: | 1 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 0 |
| Ntupdate: | 21:07, 12 September 2023 (UTC) |
Rocky Bushiri Kisonga (born 30 November 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for side Hibernian and the DR Congo national team. He has previously played for K.V. Oostende and Norwich City, spending almost the entirety of his spell at Norwich on loan at other clubs.
Bushiri was born in Belgium and played for their under-19 and under-21 teams. He switched his international allegiance to DR Congo in March 2023, and made his full international debut for them later that year.
Bushiri joined the youth academy of K.V. Oostende in 2012 after impressing in a provincial tournament representing Walloon Brabant.[2] He signed his first professional contract with Oostende in June 2017, for two years.[3] He made his professional debut in a 1-0 Belgian First Division A loss to KV Mechelen on 9 December 2017, becoming the youngest-ever debutant for Oostende.[4]
On 3 July 2019, it was announced that Bushiri would join Norwich City on a four-year deal, initially linking up with the U23 squad.[5] On 1 August 2019, Bushiri joined League One club Blackpool on a season-long loan deal.[6] Bushiri scored his first goal for the club in a 1-0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers U21s in an EFL Trophy tie on 5 November 2019.[7]
On 30 June 2020, Bushiri went out on loan again, this time joining Mechelen on a season-long deal.[8]
On 26 January 2021, Bushiri moved to Belgium side KAS Eupen, on a loan deal until the end of the season.[9]
On 10 January 2022, Bushiri joined Scottish Premiership side Hibernian on loan for the remainder of the season, with an option to buy in the summer.[10] His number of appearances during the loan triggered that option, and he signed a three-year contract with Hibs in June 2022.[11]
After he played against Morton, whilst he was supposed to be suspended for receiving two cautions in earlier ties, Morton were awarded a default 3-0 victory which led to Hibernian being knocked out of the Scottish League Cup.[12] He played regularly during the first half of the 2022 - 23 season, but was then unavailable for more than three months due to an ankle injury.
Bushiri was born in Belgium and is of Congolese descent;[13] his grandfather, Albert Kisonga, was an ambassador to Belgium.[14] Bushiri represented Belgium in youth internationals up to and including the under-21 level, but changed his international allegiance in March 2023 so that he could play for DR Congo.[15] Bushiri was first selected by DR Congo in June 2023, for two Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches.[16] He made his full international debut in September 2023, playing in a friendly against South Africa.[17]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| KV Oostende | 2017–18 | Belgian First Division A | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6[19] | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| Eupen (loan) | 2018–19 | Belgian First Division A | 23 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 8 | 0 | 33 | 1 | ||
| Norwich City | 2019–20 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Blackpool (loan) | 2019–20 | League One | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[20] | 1 | 7 | 1 | |
| Sint-Truiden (loan) | 2019–20 | Belgian First Division A | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||
| Mechelen (loan) | 2020–21 | Belgian First Division A | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Eupen (loan) | 2020–21 | Belgian First Division A | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | ||
| Hibernian (loan) | 2021–22 | Scottish Premiership | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | |||
| Hibernian | 2022–23 | Scottish Premiership | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 20 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24 | Scottish Premiership | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5[21] | 0 | 34 | 0 | ||
| Total | 41 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 54 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 97 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 132 | 3 | |||