Ronan Curtis speaks over Portsmouth future with Cardiff City, Bristol City and Blackburn linked winger’s situation in balance

And the winger explained he’s waiting to see which way talks over a new deal will go, as his existing deal comes to a close.

The Republic of Ireland international is Pompey’s longest serving player when it comes to the senior set-up, after his arrival from Derry City in 2018.

The 27-year-old is firmly settled in the city, becoming a father again last year and his partner from the area.

Head coach John Mousinho is also a fan of his direct play, though Curtis is potentially sidelined until the end of the year after picking up an anterior cruciate knee injury against Bolton in February.

Curtis confessed an end to his time at Pompey would be painful if a new contract isn’t agreed.

He told the Derry Journal: ‘I'm a fans' favourite there. I've been there five years and it's been an amazing club for myself and my family. It's not going to be easy for me to leave if it does come to that.

‘I love the club to pieces but it's still ongoing and we'll just see the outcome in the next couple of weeks or months and see what happens.’

Curtis has returned to Ireland for a period as he knee rehab continues and is ahead of schedule when it comes to his progress.

He added: ‘When you're playing week in, week out you don't really spend that much time in the gym and now I've got nine months to spend in the gym, which will make it better and better.

‘It's horrendous. A few of my mates have been through it like 'Jackie' (Ciaron Harkin) and I've been speaking to them and obviously I was coming out of contract at the same time so that was no good.

‘I didn't even think it was an ACL injury when it happened because I played on for a good 10 or 15 minutes afterwards. I was just hoping it was a little knock or something but I got the bad news and it was a hard one to take.

‘I'm on the road to recovery now. I've seven and half months to go and I'm getting fitter and stronger every day. You can't rush back from it. I'm doing all the right things and I'm ahead of schedule so that's what the physios have been saying so it looks good and I'm happy.’