Since he paid his own way to England early a decade ago in pursuit of a pro career, Wisconsin native and U.S. defender Jay DeMerit has thought about playing in MLS one day. That day might come soon.

He's out of contract after playing six seasons for Watford. Wolfsburg and Everton are believed to be interested, and so are the Vancouver Whitecaps, which move up to MLS next season. Vancouver holds the No. 1 pick in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft and also top spot in the allocation ranking, which is the process by which a U.S. international would enter the league from abroad.

DeMerit, 30, is also connected to the Whitecaps organization; he played for director of soccer operations Tom Soehn, who coached the Chicago Fire Premier development team in 2001. DeMerit started all four games for the USA at the 2010 World Cup.