'My time at Portsmouth has gone, coming back to England will never happen': Christian Burgess on revelling in life in Belgium
The Pompey favourite moved to Belgium in July 2020, winning four trophies to date
Christian Burgess’ words cannot possibly be misconstrued. Delivered without a shred of ambiguity, the message is unmistakably definite.
Having spent the last five years in Belgium, the 33-year-old could be excused for wistfully eyeing an emotional career swansong in the English game, longing to settle unfinished footballing business.
Except the former Pompey favourite is refusing to budge.
Settled in Brussels with his Belgian wife, Jessica, and one-year-old daughter Mia, he is emphatic there will be no England return.
No adding to his solitary Championship appearance, no last-gasp push to finally break Premier League ground, and no tear-jerking Fratton Park homecoming with the supporters who still revere him. No chance.
As title winners of the Jupiler Pro League, having finished above the likes of Anderlecht, Club Brugge and Genk, remarkable Belgian success story Royale Union Saint-Gillois will be participating in the Champions League next season.
And Burgess remains their immovable force - on and off the pitch.
‘Coming back to England is never going to happen, it’s just never going to happen,’ Burgess told The News.
‘There have been a few social media messages from Pompey fans in jest trying to get me back there because obviously they know I’m playing in the Champions League next year.
‘But then there have been others saying “Come back tomorrow”. Maybe they don’t know what I would have to give up to return to Pompey!
‘There’s just not the right fit any more for where my career is and where Pompey are. I don’t even think they’d want to sign a 33-year-old centre-half because there’s no value in it for them, apart from performance.
‘There’s no resale value, even if they signed me for free, which they probably could. Union would never stand in my way if it was something I really wanted.
‘It just doesn't match up, though, it’s not one of those realistic things. My time for Pompey has gone, probably England is gone, but I love having a good relationship with the club and I still always follow their results.
‘Even if a top Championship club offered something better financially, do you want to go and play 24 away games in a season, constantly away from your family? Or do you remain in Belgium, where we never stay over in hotels because everything is so close, apart from the occasional 1pm kick-off.
‘Ross Sykes, who we signed from Accrington, has had some interest from the Championship, but he’s here competing for the top level in Belgium and playing European football. He has just signed a long-term deal to stay, he sees his future here.
‘For me, England is just not going to happen, especially at my age.’
In July 2020, Burgess piled his worldly belongings of three suitcases, two holdalls, a backpack and a large box into his grey Mercedes-Benz C-Class and bid farewell to his Old Portsmouth home.
It had been almost 72 hours since he captained Pompey in their League One play-off semi-final defeat at Oxford United - now the 28 year-old was driving to Folkestone’s Eurotunnel to catch a shuttle to Calais.
Having signed a pre-contract agreement, there was to be no emotional send-off from the Fratton faithful following five successful seasons on the south-coast which reaped the League Two title and Checkatrade Trophy.
Instead, the Covid era dictated the Blues’ play-off second-leg was held behind-closed-doors at the Kassam Stadium, while Cameron McGeehan’s miss from the spot marked elimination on penalties.
Then, after 210 games and 12 goals for Pompey, Burgess embarked on a new adventure.
‘It is honestly outrageous’
He added: ‘Did I expect this? Never, no never. Would anyone have expected that? I don’t think anybody could have foreseen this. To say that, in five years, you would be champions of Belgium, reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League, win the Belgian Cup, win the Belgian Super Cup, outrageous. It is honestly outrageous.
‘I left Pompey because I wanted the experience, the chance to learn a new language, the opportunity to live and work abroad. Let’s see what else is out there in the world - and, it just so happened, the football also went really well.
‘It was a gamble football-wise, for sure, but there was enough in it to tempt me. I can recall saying that even if the football didn't work out, even if we remained in the second division with the money similar to what I was earning at Pompey, I would have all these new life experiences.
‘This was the chance to try to learn a new language and submerge myself somewhere else. It was a gamble, but it wasn’t unmanageable. I saw enough positives which made me really comfortable in the decision. I couldn’t say no to the opportunity.
‘Funnily enough, I was earning less than I had been at Pompey because of the Belgian tax rate, which worked out closer to 60 per cent. I hadn’t foreseen that, especially after Google told me it was 50 per cent!
‘I was abroad, paying a little more in rent because I wanted to live in the centre, where there was a lot for me to do as I lived on my own, but no better off financially. Well, apart from taking a signing-on fee!
‘I've definitely become a better player, but I think that would have been the case with age anyway. You always peak later as a centre-half, it’s your experience, the more games you play, the more strikers you come up against, the more systems you play against.
‘You face strikers who go on to get moves to the Bundesliga, La Liga, the Premier League, across all the top divisions. These are better players than I came up against in League One, which has helped.
‘There are players everywhere who have potential, you just need to get the right player at the right time, the right move, the right system - and give them the belief to do well.
‘I am playing in the Champions League next season, but I could have said “No chance” to joining the Belgian second division. I could have played another year at Pompey, I could have gone back down to League Two with another club. Who knows?
‘At one point, Fleetwood were interested in me and I wanted to go there because I wasn’t playing at Pompey, but then I got back into the team so I stayed. You just never know, do you? Football is crazy like that. You see some mad ones.’
Indeed, the timing of Burgess’ arrival at the Joseph Marien Stadium was impeccable, with Brighton owner Tony Bloom having been installed as Union’s majority shareholder just two years earlier.
Along with co-investor Alex Muzio, a business partner who worked at Bloom’s Starlizard sporting data business, they introduced the talent-spotting algorithm behind Brighton’s success.
Burgess proved to be the catalyst for Union’s remarkable transformation, claiming the First Division B title in his first season in 2020-21 to end a 48-year absence from the top flight.
That promotion-winning side contained Kaoru Mitoma, while, several years later, Simon Adingra was loaned from the Seagulls in 2023-24, in a mutually beneficial arrangement between the clubs.
While both former team-mates thrived in a Brighton team which finished eighth in the Premier League last season, Union were winning the Belgian Jupiler Pro League.
Burgess said: ‘Union do a brilliant job in recruiting. We are a selling club, we can’t hold onto players, the wages aren’t high enough to compete. When players do well here, they move on.
‘We actually want players to go on and achieve bigger things because that also makes Union an attractive club to sign new ones and find more gems in the rough. It’s a joke how many good players they’ve discovered and managed to sell to top teams.
‘Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg, Brighton, New York Red Bulls, I’m sure there will be others also going for big money this summer. It’s incredible.
‘Ridiculous’
‘Last summer, we got a striker from the Estonian league called Promise David and, honestly, when he first came I thought “What have we done? What have the club done?”. Then we looked at his highlights reel and the standard of the Estonian league isn’t great. This was now such a big step up.
‘Yet he finished the season as one of - if not, the - most important player for us, scoring some unbelievable goals, 22 in total. In our last game against Gent, he came on in the 58th minute with the score at 1-1 and netted twice as we beat them 3-1 - and won the league.
‘He’s now being touted as a £20m buy. Leeds want him, Brighton want him, Lille want him. It’s nuts how Union do it - and there are other examples.
‘Franjo Ivanovic was playing for Rijeka in the Croatian league. He’s had such a great season that he’s now representing Croatia and scored twice last week in an international. Mo Fuseini came from Sturm Graz and has just been called up for Ghana.
‘Noah Sadiki is aged 20 and played unbelievably well in Europe to get the call-up for DR Congo, Kamiel Van De Perre was signed from Genk II, they didn’t feel he was good enough, but he played a really important role in the second half of the season. It’s not just players from unknown leagues, it’s also young players from academies.
‘It’s ridiculous, Union see potential where other clubs don’t, it’s pretty incredible when you look at every example.
‘My role is to steady the ship, a leadership role, I’m the continuity, the experienced head. I don't bring the players in, but I kind of get them into the group and let them know what’s expected, making sure the standard every day in training is high. I put the intensity into them and demand they maintain that professionalism.
‘It’s honestly not an easy job when you have guys coming over from the Estonian league, the Latvian league, Croatia. Guys who aren’t used to playing in Europe in midweek and then big games in the Juniper Pro League at the weekend.
‘Thankfully Union don’t look to sign a guy who plays in the middle of a three - where I am. They recruit players who play either side of me and that’s nice as well. They value me here. It’s great to feel wanted and part of it.’
‘I love it all, as you can imagine’
With 208 appearances and 15 goals, Burgess has been the backbone of a Union side which have won four trophies in five years since his July 2020 arrival.
They ended a 90-year wait for the league title following a 3-1 triumph over Gent last month, certainly a case of third time lucky, having gone agonisingly close in the previous two years since promotion.
As a consequence, for the first time in the club’s history, they will take their place in the Champions League league phase, having previously bowed out in the qualifiers. And, as ever, Burgess will be at the heart of it.
‘This season there was a clause which would give me a new contract based on the number of games played. We both agreed to renew it,’ the former Peterborough man added.
‘I have a great relationship with the club. They would be fully open to letting me leave, they’d never stand in my way if I really wanted to go, but I don’t, I’m happy.
‘I've had some offers, some attractive offers financially, but it’s not what I want to do at the moment. That was before the guarantee of Champions League, in fairness. Obviously with Champions League football now, I’m not going for any money!
‘There was Saudi Arabia, I always get Turkish clubs interested, but, as a family, we aren’t keen on moving to Turkey. My wife is from Brussels and has all her friends here, while the little one goes to creche and loves it, she is developing so well.
‘I’m also a two-hour train ride from London and seeing my family, so it would have to be for some life-changing money. Certainly the Saudi offer was edging towards life-changing, but, at the same time, money is not everything.
‘I feel very much at home here and love the way of life. Brussels is like a bigger Pompey, a smaller London, but it’s a really cool city, full of life, at the centre of the European Union, with people from all over the world coming to work here. I love it all, as you can imagine.
‘When I retire, I will be straight back over to watch a Pompey game at Fratton Park. At the moment our fixtures never quite align, especially with both clubs having international breaks at the same time.
‘But I’ll be back. Not to play, England’s not going to happen now. Not for a 33-year-old who turns 34 in October. I’m very settled and very happy where I am.’
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