game of the season. After being sidelined with an injury, Obasi scored on his return on 1 November 2009, in a 4–0 win over Köln. However, as the 2009–10 season progressed, Obasi was kept out from the first team, due to international commitment and injury. Eventually, he made his return to the first team and then scored twice on 25 April 2010, in a 5–1 win over Hamburg. He went on to finish the 2009–10 season, making twenty–six appearances and scoring eight times in all competitions. However, at the start of the 2010–11 season, Obasi was sidelined for about eight weeks with a shin injury. It wasn't until on 17 October 2010, when Obasi returned to the first team, coming on as a late substitute, in a 3–2 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach. After appearing in three more matches, Obasi, once again, suffered a knee injury that kept him out for three months. After months on the sideline, Obasi returned to the first team in the last game of the season, as a late substitute, in a 3–1 loss against Wolfsburg. Following this, Obasi went on to make six appearances in all competitions. In the 2011–12 season, Obasi regained his first team place at Hoffenheim following his injury plagued last season. In a match against Stuttgart, which saw them lose 2–0 on 18 October 2011, Obasi was substituted in the second half and when he left the pitch, he refused to shake Holger Stanislawski's hand and was fined as a result. Seven days later, on 25 October 2011, Obasi scored his first goal of the season, in the second round of DFB-Pokal, in a 2–1 win over Köln. Obasi continued to remain in the first team for the club until he was dropped from the squad ahead of a match against Hamburg for disobeying orders and a week later when he was late for training. Following this, Obasi announced his desire to leave the club, when his first team opportunities became more limited. Schalke 04 On 23 December 2011, it was confirmed that Obasi was going on loan to Schalke 04 until the end of the 2011–12 season. Prior to a match against his former club, Hoffenheim, Obasi said that the club would remain in his heart and that he considered it as his second home. Obasi made his Schalke 04 debut when he played for 75 minutes in a 3–1