He signed a 1-year contract with Union Berlin which will end on 30/6/2018. http://www.fc-union-berlin.de/profi...etail/Atsuto-Uchida-wechselt-zu-Union-18661u/ It's good considering if they failed to be promoted to the top division then he will be a free agent. He will wear the No.2 shirt.
The team is making progress in 2nd bundesliga since they were promoted in the 2009/2010, their rankings in these seasons are: 2009/10: 12th 2010/11: 11th 2011/12: 7th 2012/13: 7th 2013/14: 9th 2014/15: 7th 2015/16: 6th 2016/17: 4th Hopefully Uchida will help them to get promoted this season.
That sure is a sudden move, but Union is a fine club and Uchida's chances of playing are definitely higher there (I can only assume his lack of playing time at Schalke since his return actually weren't purely due to injury or lack of match fitness).
I can't get why none seems disappointed by this catastrophic transfer. Worst than Honda mexican trip.
Well, this is because Schalke changed their formation to 3-5-2. Uchida is a full-back in 4-4-2 formation and they have better options to play as wing-backs in 3-5-2 formation.
Keep in mind Uchida didn't play any league match for 2 1/2 years now, that's like an eternity. Schalke let him leave for free, the Union contract runs for just a year, and regular playing time obviously has priority, not only with the view on the next WC but for his career in general.
On the bench against league leader Armenia Beilefeld. Unsere Startelf vs. @arminia - 13:30 Uhr geht's los... #fcunion #fcudsc #eisern pic.twitter.com/IkN92iZRqz— 1. FC Union Berlin (@fcunion) August 27, 2017
He's always been a fan favorite at Schalke. Btw. the farewell happened right after his first match for Union in nearby Düsseldorf (where he had abovementioned assist) and before Schalke's Buli match.
No playing time for Uchida tonight (he remained on the bench for the full 90 minutes) as his team drew with Eintracht Braunschweig 1-1.
Even if he is still injured, I still think he needs time to adapt. The good thing is that his coach trusts him and knows his qualities, so his chances will come.
Uchida comes back to Kashima after spending 7.5 seasons in Germany: Ein großer Dank an unsere Nummer 2 Atsuto #Uchida. Er kehrt zurück nach Japan zu seinem Heimatverein Kashima Antlers F.C. Wir wünschen viel Erfolg! 👉 https://t.co/nCw0cgfqIP #fcunion #kashima #antlers #au2 @atlrs_official @atlrs_english pic.twitter.com/HdjXZodEJi— 1. FC Union Berlin (@fcunion) January 2, 2018 I wonder what Kashima are going to do with their right-backs, as they have four of them at the moment (Nishi, Ito, Anzai and Uchida)?