Brits all overpay for each other. I would not take any of that too seriously. That is why there is so little interest in Brit players in Europe.
The reason no English players play in the other european leagues is that the EPL, player for player, is the highest paying soccer league in the world.
And Kasey Keller was available on a free transfer, which means Tim Howard is infinity times the goalkeeper Keller is.
One of many factors other than talent that affect a transfer fee, and therefore one of many reasons you can't project someone is several multiples better than someone else based on that fee.
I can however project that at the same age Rooney was rated many multiple times higher than Adu.......My feelings about Adu are well known and don't need repeating here....time will tell if I'm right or wrong.....and the clock is ticking.
40 Million for a fat English striker who is always hurt. Who else but a big English club would pay that? You can get a fat Brazilian who holds the WC scoring record for a lot less.
Why? He has been there for a little over 3 weeks. He has a five year contract. An outstanding talent for his age. Give him 5-6 months to find his feet. He isn't doomed to the bench no matter what Camacho will give him his chance.
But a nearly 18-year old Brazilian goes for $27M (€20M). BTW, has this been posted anywhere? two more mids Pereira is a defensive mid. Rodriguez is a left footed creative mid/winger. http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-worlddigest2&prov=reuters&type=lgns
The defender will replace the recently transfered Anderson. Pereira will presumably replace or try to replace Fernandes (who did an about face with Everton and ended up at Valencia) and Rodriguez can become an ersatz Simao. Of course, Adu is an ersatz Simao himself.
One more thing about this game... When Adu was warming up, he passed by the Guimarães supporters who, being primates, started making primate noises. Adu looked miffed. (They probably didn't show this on TV, but I was there and it happened). I know that, in the U.S., such behavior would never go unpunished, but things don't work that way in Portugal. My point is: Adu needs to be strong. We don't want to lose him the way Barcelona almost lost Etoo. http://www.euroresidentes.com/Blogs/2006/03/racism-in-spanish-football.html
It's pretty easy to check. Looks like he has been posting about Benfica and Portugal, even prior to Adu. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/search.php?searchid=3529220&pp=25&page=2