With about 280 players from 60 other countries, Major League Soccer is the most diverse pro sports league in the U.S.

Minnesota United FC sporting director Manny Lagos will look to tap into that worldwide talent pool with a scouting trip to Scandinavia from Friday to Oct. 2. Lagos will look at specific players at about eight matches in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. He said it’s premature to expect imminent signings, but the trip is a step toward putting together a roster for the Loons’ debut season in MLS in March 2017.

“This is a market that you should probably see and hopefully find the value that fits in within an MLS budget and building a roster,” Lagos said.

Lagos will see FC Copenhagen and Club Brugge of Belgium in a UEFA Champions League match in Denmark on Sept. 27. He will also see Stabaek, the former club of ex-U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley. All clubs play in either their country’s first division or are considered top feeder teams.

Current Loons players Danny Cruz and Jeb Brovsky, who have MLS experience, previously played in Norway.

“There is one degree of separation for a lot of people,” Lagos said.

In the past 10 years, both the number of MLS players from Scandinavia and the number of international players have grown. As of mid-August, there were nine native Scandinavian players among the league’s roughly 560 players.

In 2011, MLS had 184 players born in 55 countries outside the U.S. or Canada, including five players from Scandinavia. In 2006, MLS had 93 players from 44 countries, with one from Scandinavia.

“This is a great example of just the growth of MLS and the evolutionary process for all teams,” Lagos said. “I’m not inventing the wheel. This is a market that intrigues a lot of MLS clubs.”

Lagos said there are similarities in the perceived levels of play and player salaries between the U.S. and Scandinavia.

“I think it’s got some big value for us to really get to know the market,” Lagos said, adding that Minnesota will be a middle-sized market, unlike New York or Los Angeles.

Since MLS began in 1996, Scandinavian countries have produced a total of 33 MLS players, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Sweden has 15, Denmark 8, Norway 6 and Finland 4.

The two most notable names are Mix Diskerud and Jimmy Nielsen. Nielsen, a Danish goalkeeper, has played the most games (128) of any Scandinavian player as a member of MLS’ Kansas City franchise. Diskerud, born in Oslo, has dual citizenship with the U.S. and has been a member of the U.S. men’s national team. He has played in only 12 games for New York City FC this season.

Lagos said there could be leverage for United to bring a Scandinavian player to Minnesota. Some selling points could be similar climates, shared heritage and high qualities of life.

“Really, we are more focused on the (soccer) product,” Lagos emphasized. “We will be going to other markets. This is just one that we are looking at now, and it’s our first one. I think it’s kind of exciting that it does check a lot of boxes for starting to think about how we want to build a roster for next year.”

Lagos also mentioned two top-of-mind Americans he will see play in Norway — Josh Gatt of Molde and Cole Grossman of Stabaek.

United now has 12 international players among the 26 on its roster, including five Brazilians. They also have players from Jamaica, England, Germany, Haiti, Cameroon and Venezuela.

Lagos said this first official scouting trip is about linking connections in Scandinavia that could lead to fruitful trips in the future, similar to what has occurred with players hailing from Brazil.

“There will always be an environment of bringing players in and using those players to recruit players (in) a lot of ways,” Lagos said.