Christian Burgess claims Portsmouth were too slow in offering him fresh Fratton Park terms

And the centre-half added the club’s delayed approach to contract negotiations ultimately lead to him to swapping the Blues for Belgian second-tier outfit Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in July.

Burgess announced he was bringing his five-year stay on the south coast to an end just days after Pompey’s promotion hopes ended against Oxford in the play-offs – and following his acceptance of the The News/Sports Mail player of the season award.

The Blues had started talks to retain his services back in January.

But speaking in the latest edition of Pompey Talk: The Podcast, the popular defender – who was fourth-choice centre-back heading into the 2019-20 season – revealed the process failed to fill with him confidence.

The 29-year-old said he feared the Blues would attempt to run talks down until the end of the season, taking the situation out of his hands.

And with a ‘sure thing’ from the Royale sporting director suddenly on the table, the decision was made to end his Fratton Park career at the end of the campaign.

Asked by The News’ Neil Allen ‘could Pompey have kept you?’, Burgess said: ‘If they had offered something earlier, for sure.

‘It's just all on timing, I think.

‘I remember we asked for something earlier and it didn't come and in between that time is when somebody from Union contacted me and then you have something else in your head.

‘You know, I didn't know much about Belgian football, I didn't know anything about this club, so you take a lot of information on somebody’s word, you have to judge the guy and he was a good guy the sporting director out here.

‘That then puts an idea in your head and then it sort of spirals.

‘But I remember still thinking and telling my agents: "Go get something from Pompey. Can we get an offer from Portsmouth? Can we get something better?”

‘But it just didn't really come in time and they didn’t give me a lot of confidence that they were ever going to.

‘I thought they might try and run it down and it will be in their favour at the end of the season.

‘Then I didn’t know I was going to keep playing well, be the player of the season and have lots of options.

‘For me, I could have lost my place again and have no options and I'd be looking for anything and everybody else would hold all the cards.

‘So, yeah, if something had come earlier, then yes (I would have stayed).

‘But as soon as that offer came in, and as soon as I felt like Portsmouth were delaying a little bit, it didn't give me a lot of confidence that they really wanted to keep me - and so I signed the sure thing.'

Since leaving Pompey, Burgess has played 13 times for Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, who are currently top of the Proximus League.

Following his departure, Blues chief executive Mark Catlin defended the club's long-standing contract stance.

He told The News back in July: ‘Could we have done more? Obviously yes. But at what cost? And was his (Burgess’) heart really set on playing for those extra years when he’d expressed to us that he fancied at some point trying himself with a different culture and a different country?

‘At the end of the day, money talks, but by giving one player a wage way above everyone else, it sets off a chain of events which clubs can’t come back from.

‘Certainly a three-year deal at this level is predominately the reserve of younger players with additional sell-on value.’

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