Kunimitsu Sekiguchi, whose contract with Cerezo Osaka already expired at the end of the last season, is apparently participating in the U-23 team’s training session according to some tweets from supporters.
関口さんいてる😭35番やけどw pic.twitter.com/74L6IflV81
— さくらもっち (@28_june) February 4, 2018
The U-23 team played a training match against Osaka Toin High School today. According to a supporter, Sekiguchi played in that match wearing the no. 35 shirts which is originally Masaki Okino’s number.
What this means is unclear at the moment. One certain thing is that, contrary to my (and probably many supporters’) prediction, Sekiguchi has not signed with any club yet. Maybe he’s in talks now and participating in the training camp just for conditioning. Other possibilities include Cerezo re-signing with him, but my guess is that the possibility is low. It’s true that they may lack enough strikers now as Ryuji Sawakami and Ricardo won’t be available for next 3 or 4 months, but as to wide midfielders, they have enough after reinforcing with new signings like Toshiyuki Takagi.
He is not young anymore but I believe he is still good enough for (at least) J2 clubs. I hope his destination will be decided soon.