Bundesliga runners-up FC Schalke 04 have signed Japan international defender Atsuto Uchida from Kashima Antlers, as they gear up to play in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

A fee of around €1.3m is believed to have been paid for the 22-year-old, who is currently on duty with Japan at the FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa. The 31-times capped Uchida has agreed a three-year contract with Die Königsblauen (The Royal Blues), telling his former club's website: "I have decided to develop both as a player and as a person."

Uchida is Schalke's fourth signing of the summer following the arrivals of defender Christoph Metzelder from Real Madrid CF, 1. FC Kaiserslautern striker Erik Jendrišek and 1. FSV Mainz 05 right-back Tim Hoogland.