How are we supposed to view the fact that a selling point for any any club in regards to a young American prospect is the web traffic generated by Americans wanting to keep up with them, and to a lesser extent their ability to boost merchandise sales?

Personally, I think it's good. However, there are certain undeniable potential pitfalls - chief among them the propensity for that particular selling point to allow a player to punch above their weight on the transfer market and end up in a club situation that isn't good for their development and/or game time in lieu of a high paycheck.