Clark Robertson was impressed by the Stephen Glass sales pitch from Pittodrie.
But the ex-Aberdeen defender plumped for Portsmouth because he still has unfinished business in England.
Robertson, who will officially leave Rotherham next week, has signed a two-year deal with League One promotion hopefuls Pompey.
He spent six weeks weighing up his future after suffering relegation with The Millers.
A key part of his new club search took the 27-year-old back home for talks with Aberdeen.
However, Robertson rejected Dons and Hapoel Jerusalem when a special touch from persuasive Pompey boss Danny Cowley sealed the deal.
Robertson said: “Getting the chance to speak to Aberdeen was really good.
“I met Glass at Cormack Park and was definitely impressed.
“The style they are going to play will be attractive and they are going to be an attacking team to watch.
“It was excited by that so it was a difficult one for me.
“I could have come home and been closer to family but I want to keep testing myself in England.
“I’d never rule out a return to Scotland. That might be further down the line.
“But I’ve much more to offer before I come back up the road. I feel I’ve unfinished business.
“I definitely want to get back to the Championship.
“It’s such a competitive league and coming back to Scotland might have killed off the chance of playing there again.
“I missed half of last season with injury so I didn’t get to play in the league as much as I’d have liked. So it’s something I want to do again.
“Going to Portsmouth, I’m only one step away from the Championship again.”
Robertson was swayed towards the south coast by Cowley, who is assisted at Fratton Park by brother Nicky.
The former Scotland Under-21 cap was blown away by the effort and knowledge in Cowley’s special online presentation.
Robertson said: “I was absolutely buzzing after the manager put on a presentation over Zoom to me. The detail was very in-depth, all about how Portsmouth were going to play.
“And in there were clips of me playing at Rotherham and Blackpool, showing how what I do fits perfectly into that style.
“It made me feel wanted after I had a difficult season. The last 18 months have been stop-start.
“So for a manager to show how much he wants you and wants to give you an opportunity, that made my mind up.
“To see he’d put a plan in place for me that will get me back to my best and playing every week was really impressive.
“He understands what I can bring to a team, he wants to play out from the back which I enjoy and it suits my game. I can only imagine everything he does will be in great detail so I’m really looking forward to the next couple of years.”
Robertson, who starts pre-season tomorrow, is now targeting a third promotion since leaving Pittodrie in 2015.
He helped Blackpool go up from League Two then yo-yo club Rotherham gain automatic promotion to the second tier in 2019/20. But with big guns Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday in the league, Robertson admits there’s going to be stiff competition near the top of the table.
He said: “Sunderland had a bit of interest but it didn’t get to the stage of anything happening. I’d always thought of playing abroad and we did get quite far down the line with Hapoel Jerusalem.
“That might be an idea in a couple of years time. There was an offer from Poland too.
“But Portsmouth are a big club with a great fan base.
“I scored at Fratton Park a few years ago for Blackpool. The atmosphere is always great there and hopefully fans can be back.
“While this League One could be the toughest since I’ve been in England, our aim is definitely to get into the Championship.
“Coming to my peak years I want to get back playing at the highest level I can.”
