it does sound like silly money and you have to think that better players are out there for similar money..
I know you cant compare deals like this but Man City for example sign Fernando, a player they've brought in to replace Yaya Toure... they paid £12m, who knows how much upfront and addons etc, but an eventual total £12 million for a player they will consider to be world class potential... Now when you look at the Livermore & Snodgrass deals it does look like we've over paid.
Obviously we could never attract a player like Fernando or the kind of players man city can sign... but the point remains, better players are available outside of the UK for less money.