Scandinavia is fast becoming a popular region for American players to take the next step in their careers. Danny Califf and Jeremiah White have made names for themselves in Denmark, Charlie Davies is a profile in Sweden and Adin Brown is flying the colors in Norway.

Former DC United keeper Troy Perkins became the latest addition to the group before this season  when he signed a five-year deal with Oslo-based club Vålerenga in the Norwegian Tippeligaen, and the Springfield, Ohio native is already happy with life in Norway.

"It's a new adventure," Perkins recently told American Soccer Daily. "You get to live abroad and play football, so what's wrong with that?"

"I'm finally settling in. It's starting to feel like home. The first month was tough, but it's getting a lot better. I really enjoy Oslo and the people around the club are fantastic."

"It's a great life, to be fair," he says. "You pay high taxes, but you get a lot back, and it's also an opportunity to be a little closer to the bigger clubs and the bigger leagues, and to improve."

With the Norwegian season still in its infancy, Perkins is trying to get used to the country's soccer style, but he is excited about his new work environment. The American has three wins and two shutouts through six matches for the fourth place Bohemians.

"It's a bit different," he explains. "It's very English style; your Championship level of route one football, but they're trying to change it a lot. They want to integrate Spanish style with English style; more direct, but possession as well, so it's kind of a mix right now."

"The intensity is much better here all the way around from the first player to the last player. I think the pace of play is quicker as well and in transition, you turn the ball over and boom - they're right back at you."

"It's a good place to be. The clubs are financially doing better and the football is getting a lot better."

Looking back on the club and league he left behind, Perkins has his reservations about the growing MLS trend of bringing in foreign players rather than developing US talent.

"That's kind of one of the reasons I wanted to leave the league," he says. "I don't want to bash the league or bash the club, but the league is trying to build itself and they're kind of leaving a lot of American players behind when they do that."

"They're bringing in these guys that are older and their careers are kind of in their twilights. In a way it's good because it gets people interested and they want to come and see the matches, but on the flip side of that, young American players aren't getting any playing time, and I think that's a drawback."

"You kind of see that in Holland as well. It's like an under-23/over-30 league where there's no middle class anymore."

Perkins doubts that there is really any room in MLS for an American to be a star and get paid accordingly.

"I think the only person right now is Landon that can do that because of who he is, obviously, and what he's done," he says. "But coming up, it's going to be tough because the young talent is going to get picked up early."

"If you look at Altidore, I think he's going in the summer and then Freddy obviously left last year. For that league, it's going to be tough to hold American talent because they don't pay them well enough."

While he is aware of the debate, Perkins has little time for the critics of Scandinavia as a developing ground for American players.

"I think they're full of shit, to be honest," he states. "Just because these leagues don't have these huge clubs that compete in Champions League and win UEFA Cups does not mean they're not quality teams. I would love for an MLS club to come over here when both teams have been playing and compete and see what it's like."

Plenty of reasons come to mind as he tries to explain what American players find appealing about playing in Scandinavia.

"I think it's an opportunity to play in Europe," he says. "Work permits are not an issue and it's that opportunity in the future to maybe move on to a really big club. It's also the experience, I think, and the quality of play is just a little better. But I think for every footballer in America, it's your dream to come to Europe and play somewhere."

Perkins has no doubt what he wants to achieve from his time in Norway and he is setting the bar high.

"Personally, I want to set a standard of somewhat what Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller and those guys have already done and now do it in Norway," he says. "Adin Brown has got the thing rolling and I just want to carry it on to the next level."

While he already puts enough pressure on himself, Perkins is well aware of what is expected of him as a new signing and new first-choice keeper.

"Any time they bring in a new player, there's a lot of pressure on you, but you can't let that get you," he stated. "You just got to go out and do your job."

The pressure, however, also extends to the rest of the team and the bar is set equally high.

"We want to win the league," declared Perkins. "We want to be the best, we want to compete for a UEFA Champions League spot and hopefully do well on that."