BRADENTON, Fla. – Saturday may have been the fifth day that the New England Revolution have been conducting their preseason training in Florida, but it also marked the official stateside arrival of newly signed Designated Player, Carles Gil.

“Yeah it’s great to have him here,” said head coach Brad Friedel. ”He was with us obviously in Spain and that was very good for him so he was able to meet all the boys, and have a good couple of weeks with us already.

“Unfortunate that he was away for about a week because of the visa, but now he’s here and he’ll fit in just great.”

The forward was able to fortuitously join the Revs in their first leg of their preseason in Marbella, Spain because New England was coincidentally training in his native country. However, following the Revolution’s departure from Europe, Gil needed to stay in Spain as the Revs traveled home while his P-1 Visa was processing.

Gil officially rejoined the squad on Saturday night, and eagerly jumped right back into training with the group on Sunday morning.

“I think it’s awesome he’s here,” said Diego Fagundez. “It took quite a bit of a process, but now he’s here, so he’s glad to be back in training.”