Quote:
Originally Posted by ukhotstove
Gareth Bale would spring to mind, around £1 million is peanuts in todays market so would probably pay off for Benfica even if he only lived up to 60% of his potential, just can't understand if he was going that cheap why did nobody else buy him.
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I'm sure it had something to do with it being a pain in the balls to negotiate with MLS for transfer fees. It's also because he's American, and Americans (rightly, I think) aren't perceived as being capable of playing well in Europe right now. Honestly, being able to say someone might be the best American player ever in five years or so isn't going to make him worth much more than $2 million. In his prime, Claudio Reyna was worth only $3.5 million, Tim Howard was most likely signed for less than that, and I believe Clint Dempsey holds the record for an American's transfer fee at $4 million.