Rocky Bushiri will remain a Hibs player until the end of the season at least.
The commanding centre half had interest in the January window and Hibs booted out a deadline day bid for Bushiri from an unnamed Belgian side.
Egyptian giants Zamalek made an offer for the centre half this week with their window still open, but the Hibees stood firm and rejected the bid.
So they keep hold of a player who has been instrumental in their recent resurgence, and for whom they obviously wouldn’t have been able to source a replacement.
Bushiri scored Hibs’ winner against Ayr United on Friday night as he continued to underline his importance to the side and send them through in the Scottish Cup.
But his future remains up in the air with his Hibs contract up un the summer, and the interested clubs would be able to open talks with him over a pre-contract.
Bushiri answers Hibs future question
Bushiri is pleased to be playing well enough to be attracting interest but hasn’t ruled out staying at Easter Road beyond this season.
He admits though that there have been no contract talks yet, and appeared to invited the club to initiate them.
Following that dramatic late Ayr winner, he said: “Not yet. We will see. The window is shut now, so my full focus is on Hibs.
“There’s been rumours, etc, but now it’s up to the club how they will react to it. It’s always good when you play well, you attract interest from different clubs.
“It’s also a boost, it’s not always a bad thing when you can’t leave the club. But I’m now open and we will see how the club will react to it in the coming months.”
Bushiri feels Hibs fan love
It was the latest in a line of important goals the big defender has chipped in with and he enjoyed it just as much as the rest.
Bushiri admits he had to hold himself back from jumping in with the fans but loved hearing them singing his name.
“It felt very good celebrating, especially as my goals always seem to be late in games,” he smiled. “That makes it even more special. The fans were so close to you, I just wanted to jump in there! But I had to behave as I didn’t want a yellow card.
“Yes, of course it’s an extra boost [hearing fans sing my name]. I think that song started at Hearts away and now the song is still there. We’ve had positive results which helps keep everyone happy.
“We’re feeling good now. But you know in tough times, you have to keep your head up and your chest high and keep fighting. Because you will always face difficult moments as a footballer. You just have to always believe in yourself.”