Oxford United: Portsmouth moment promised so much but Pep Clotet recruit never delivered | OneFootball

Pep Clotet made some bizarre signings during his time at Oxford United, none more so than Gino van Kessel.

Pep Clotet's time at Oxford United will be forever remembered for the signings he made while at the club. Some for better, and some certainly for worse.

Clotet was announced as United manager on 1st July 2017. During his first transfer window, the Spaniard signed several foreign players who he had worked with previously.

There was a mixture of emotions from the fanbase, but there was certainly an excitement around the club having a Spanish manager come in and bring in these players from overseas, some of whom came with an impressive reputation.

Unfortunately for Clotet, too many of these players under-performed, and the former Leeds assistant manager found himself out of a job 36 games later.

Gino van Kessel's debut against Portsmouth

The most notorious of the imports is Gino van Kessel. Clotet signed the striker on loan from Slavia Prague despite only making seven appearances for the Czech side. There was hope that Oxford may have a talisman on their hands for at least one season.

His debut came on 12th August against Portsmouth. Van Kessel was brought on with 10 minutes to go in the game, with United 1-0 up courtesy of a Wes Thomas tap in.

Van Kessel made an immediate impact on the game, giving United fans a glimpse of what they hoped they would see from the striker.

Fellow summer signing Jonathan Obika found Van Kessel, whose first touch left the ball behind him. The Curaçao international regained possession, and after seemingly finding himself at a dead-end, broke between two Portsmouth defenders to slot the ball home.

It was a fantastic piece of individual skill, and with the ability to look back on his time with the club, seems even more outrageous of a goal. It was a moment of brilliance from a player who was unable to replicate his potential on a more consistent basis for the club.

Van Kessel scored another, two games later, at home to Shrewsbury Town. It was the continuation of a brilliant first month at the club for the forward, who won the League One goal of the month award for August.

Van Kessel unable to continue impressive start

Despite scoring two goals in three games to start the season, Van Kessel only netted once more for United in the league that season. Once again a home game, the former Ajax player scored in a 3-1 win over MK Dons.

Shortly after his impressive start, Van Kessel was sidelined due to injury, and missed two months of the season, making his return on 16th December against Rochdale.

The forward wasn't able to string together more than five consecutive appearances for the rest of the season, with Clotet sacked in January 2018.

Pep Clotet's signings

Clotet brought in a number of players in his first summer. And some of them went on to be really successful at the club. Jack Payne had impressed so much on loan that in January he was recalled by his parent club, Huddersfield Town, and loaned out to Championship side Blackburn Rovers.

James Henry went on to make well over 200 appearances for Oxford, and was a key part of the team, with his experience and maturity making him a valued member of the changing room.

John Mousinho was signed on a free, and went on to be club captain before retiring and moving into management.

And, not to mention, one of the most important signings in recent history, the arrival of Cameron Brannagan, just 12 days before Clotet was sacked.

Unfortunately, there were also a number of signings made under the Spaniard that did not go according to plan. Under former boss Michael Appleton, United had a clear transfer policy of recruiting young British players with real potential, with the look to eventually sell them on for big profit.

Clotet clearly wanted to add some international players to the mix. He did, however, tell the Oxford Mail: “For me, the main part of the squad must always remain British and English if possible, because they know the most about the game here.”

But that didn't stop him looking far and wide for players, including Oxford's first ever Brazilian player. Among those brought in from overseas included Dwight Tiendalli, Xemi Fernández, Ivo Pękalski, Agon Mehmeti, Ricardinho and, of course, Gino van Kessel.

To his credit, Ricardinho proved himself to be an important part of United's team that season. But the rest of them were not able to make a name for themselves in an Oxford shirt. Pękalski didn't even feature for the club over two seasons, with injuries ruling him out for much of his time.

With the January transfer window just weeks away, Des Buckingham and his team will be hoping to avoid a repeat of these unsuccessful signings, particularly ones of van Kessel's ilk that may promise much but, ultimately, fail to deliver.