Schalke is expecting Atsuto Uchida to miss the first half of the Bundesliga season according to Kicker magazine on Thursday, which would rule out the Japan defender for most of the second-round World Cup qualifiers.
Uchida had surgery on his right knee this close season, against the wishes of Schalke's medical team. Uchida's Japanese doctors said the right-back would need six weeks to recover but Schalke has diagnosed otherwise, Kicker said.
To fill Uchida's place, Schalke signed Brazilian defender Junior Caicara last week and is in the market for another full-back, Kicker said.
Japan has five World Cup qualifiers scheduled from September to November, four of them away. The new Bundesliga season opens on Aug. 14, when champion Bayern Munich hosts Hamburg SV.