New Gosport Borough signing started the 2021/22 season scoring in the Europa League

Bedsente Gomis turned out for Andorran League club UE Sant Julia after spending a year reunited with his former Sutton boss Paul Doswell at Hawks.

The 33-year-old was on target for Sant Julia in their Europa Conference League first qualifying round defeat against Maltese club Gzira in early July.

After a 0-0 away draw, Gomis gave Sant Julia the lead in the second leg. After Gzira levelled to force a penalty shoot-out, Gomis converted his penalty but his side were beaten 5-3 on spot-kicks.

Due to having played for Sant Julia, Gosport have needed to get international clearance before Gomis is free to play.

He trained with the club twice last week, watched Saturday’s Southern League win against Beaconsfield, and will train again this week.

Boss Shaun Gale could then well include Gomis in the squad for Saturday’s home league game against Merthyr.

‘He’s a welcome addition,’ Gale told The News. ‘He’s a box-to-box midfielder who can put his foot in - it’s a no brainer for me.’

Gale was alerted to Gomis’ availability by former Pompey star Linvoy Primus. ‘I spoke to a few people who gave me a good character reference,’ revealed the Privett Park boss. ‘We’ve got a good group and we don’t want one bad egg to spoil it.’

Gomis has been brought in at the same time that Theo Widdrington has been recalled by Hawks. He is not a replacement, though - Gomis would have been signed even if the latter had stayed.

With Theo Lewis having returned from a hamstring injury last weekend, and Mike Carter regaining match fitness on loan at AFC Portchester, Gale is happy with his squad.

‘We’ve got some experience in midfield and we’ll need it,’ he said.

‘We’ve got a very busy few weeks - league games, Portsmouth Senior Cup (v AFC Portchester), Hampshire Senior Cup (v AFC Totton).

‘We’ve got good numbers, but things can change by the week.

‘But now we’ve got Bedsente, we’ve got Mike Carter coming back, we’ve got Theo Lewis - that’s three very experienced midfielders. And Bedsente coming in could allow Theo to push further forward and get the goals we know he can.’

Asked whether he would look to bring Widdrington back once Hawks’ numbers improve, Gale remarked: ‘I can’t answer that - it would depend on who’s fit and who’s not.

‘Theo will be a big loss for us - Dos (Doswell) apologised for recalling him but I fully understand his situation.’

After playing in his native France and Spain, Gomis made two EFL appearances for Southend United in 2013/14 before starting a three-season stay at Sutton United the following season.

He was a regular under Doswell when the Conference National club reached the fifth round of the FA Cup in 2016/17. He featured in wins against higher division Cheltenham, AFC Wimbledon and Leeds and also the last 16 tie at home to Arsenal.

Gomis later played for Barrow and Dover in the top flight of non-league football before joining up again with Doswell at Hawks in February 2020.

A regular for Hawks last season, Gomis scored the club’s winning goal in their FA Cup first round success against lower division Cray Valley Paper Mills.