 Cerezo's coach Akihiro Nishimura rated him highly as Sato had played for Japan's youth team in the previous year which was also managed by Nishimura.However, he suffered from Guillain–Barré syndrome at the beginning of the season, and found himself playing not many games with Akinori Nishizawa and Yoshito Okubo ahead of him in the pecking order.The club finished 2nd and was promoted to J1 League.