“I was adamant I wanted to come” said Josef Bursik as he discussed his loan move to Hibernian FC from Belgian Champions Club Brugge.
The 23-year-old ‘keeper has joined the Hibees for the 2024/25 campaign and is eyeing regular football, once again.
He made over 50 appearances for Stoke City at a young age, but his game-time was limited last season due to injury.
Now fully fit and raring to go, Bursik told Hibs TV how excited he is to get back playing games again.
“I’m really happy to be here. It took a couple of weeks to get it done, but as soon as I heard of the interest, I was adamant I wanted to come. We got it done and I’m really happy to be here.
“I played a lot of games at a young age and really pushed to go out on loan because I knew how important minutes were at that age. Ultimately that helped me get my chance with England and then at Stoke.
“It was a tough decision to leave Stoke, but I went to Belgium and didn’t really feature as much as I’d have liked. I played a load of games for the second team after recovering from my injury, so playing-wise I’m in a good place and mentally I’ve learnt a lot.
“Now is a good time for me to come in, kick on, get back playing and enjoying myself; I have missed playing a lot.”
Several clubs were interested in Bursik this summer, but it was his chat with our Sporting Director that made Hibs his number one choice.
“I spoke to Malky (Mackay) quite a bit over the last few weeks and he really sold the Club to me. We spoke about the size of the Club, the big games that the Club are involved in, and that we want to do better than we did last season; it’s something I wanted to be a part of.
“He was positive about the way I’ve played and that I could come here and enjoy myself; that’s the most important thing for me, to come here, enjoy my football and ultimately help the team.”
After meeting his teammates, the ‘keeper was immediately involved in training straight away with Goalkeeper Coach Craig Samson.
“It’s been good meeting the lads for the first time and the Head Coach (David Gray). Training was good, and it’s nice to be settled in. I can settle in properly now and get going.
“Sammy (Craig Samson) seems like a great guy and he’s really positive, which is exactly what I like from my goalie coach. We’ve had some good chats already and I look forward to working with him and the other goalies in the group as well.”
Watch the full interview on Hibs TV!
