The former Portsmouth defender took a chance when moving to Brussels but is now captain of the Belgian champions and preparing to mark the England captain in the Champions League
B
elow the zigzagging contrails that paint the blue Brussels sky, Christian Burgess is reflecting on the latest chapters of his extraordinary journey, those since joining Royale Union Saint‑Gilloise almost six years ago. At the time he felt that his career was at risk of stagnating, but after rummaging Wikipedia to get a handle on the club and learning of their big ambitions, it felt a leap of faith worth taking.
Even so, there is a detectable disbelief at how that decision led him to the Champions League and an unlikely reunion with Harry Kane, with whom he last duelled as an 18-year-old on trial at Tottenham more than 15 years ago. On Wednesday Union play at Bayern Munich in arguably the biggest match in their history, knowing a positive result would keep alive their chances of advancing to the knockout stage.
One episode from those days on Luxborough Lane in Chigwell, then Spurs’s training ground, sticks in Burgess’s memory. He was a sixth-form student searching for a route into the game, Kane a first-year scholar being readied for the first-team squad. “I was in the changing rooms when the kit man came in and asked him: ‘Do you want long sleeves? Under armour? Gloves?’” Burgess says. “Wow, that’s so big time. I was missing history and maths class.”
