Vancouver Whitecaps recruit Jay DeMerit linked up with his training teammates for the first time since signing with the MLS expansion franchise.

The 31-year old former Watford defender became the Whitecaps' first MLS signing and was on hand at the off-season training session. He said it was good to be back out on the training pitch after some time away following the end of his six-year Watford stay.

"It's been quite a while since I was with guys training and the whole kind of sharpness that's involved in games with possession and things like that but it's good to be back and get the wheels going again," he told whitecapsfc.com.

"That's why we are all here, to get to know each other and to start that gelling and that bond that's going to be crucial for us to start the season."