Giving estimates what a player is worth before a sale is complete is not allowed in the forums, so we can't comment on player #2.
On the first one, you didn't overpay for him, but you didn't get a steal either. He's in the right range.
As for your USA player question, you get a slight bonus in merchandise sales for having players from your home country. I would not factor it in too much when trying to find the best players available, however.