
Finnish midfielder Rasmus Schuller is going home to Finland.
For a few months, at least.
Minnesota United will loan out Schuller to Helsinki-based club Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi from Finland's top division, the Finnish club confirmed. The Finnish national team member played for the club from 2012-15.
Schuller was one of three players United used targeted allocation money to sign ahead of this inaugural Major League Soccer season, along with center-backs Francisco Calvo and Vadim Demidov. While all three began the season as starters, only Calvo retained that spot. The club has been working on moving Demidov out for several weeks now, with no success yet.
Schuller played only seven matches, with four starts, for United. His most recent appearance was June 17 and most recent start April 15. While poor performance dropped him from the lineup after the first three matches of the season, injuries – including hip flexor and thigh problems – then hampered every comeback.
"The last couple months have been really frustrating for him, gets himself nearly fit, he's been training really well and then he breaks down," coach Adrian Heath said. "And the fact that Ibson and [Sam] Cronin have sort of solidified that position [in the midfield], we don't want this last third of the season to sort of taper away for him.
"So the opportunity came to loan him back, and we just think for him to get his mind right, for him to get a lot of minutes under his belt and get his confidence back and get himself back here in December getting ready for a new year – he knows where he's coming to, he knows his teammates – we think that's the best thing for him moving forward."
United's director of player personnel, Amos Magee, reiterated that Schuller "is a player [the Loons] still believe in." They are looking forward to seeing him back ahead of the 2018 season "refreshed and ready to be the player" they expected him to be when they signed him, Magee said.