Telegraph Sport reporter Fraser Watson laments the money now involved in professional football, and argues the Neymar deal shows the game has lost touch with reality

My younger brother tried to comprehend the fee involved, my dad questioned if he was worth the money, and my mum scathingly suggested the funds could be put to better use elsewhere in the World.

Masses of Newcastle fans lined the streets, pundits and journalists scrambled frantically to get a piece of the record breaking development, and the player himself was gleefully paraded, having just become the most expensive signing in the history of the game.

That player of course, was Alan Shearer, who had just moved from Blackburn Rovers to Newcastle United for a staggering fee of, wait for it, £15 million.

At the time, Shearer was undoubtedly one of the most sought after strikers on the planet, and at the top of his game having proved lethal with five goals in England’s enthralling Euro 96 campaign.

To highlight the financial inflation within the sport in the two decades proceeding that transfer – this summer Britt Assombalonga, the 24-year-old striker without a Premier League or international appearance to his name, switched from Nottingham Forest to Middlesbrough for precisely the same fee as one of the game’s great goal-scorers commanded at the height of his powers.

That is not a slight on Assombalonga, a promising forward who may yet prove a top flight success. It is merely a reflection of how rapidly spending in our beautiful game is progressing.

But whilst inflation over time is inevitable in all forms of business, the startling details of Neymar’s switch from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain this week signify far more than a game that boasts huge global appeal and extortionate finances.

It is a transfer synonymous with a sad, and yet almost undisputable fact.

Namely, that professional football has now lost all sense of reality.

Yes, I’m aware of the commercial value of football. I’m aware of its popularity in nigh on every country in the World. I’m aware that billions upon billions of pounds of investment is pumped into the game from every angle – and I’m aware that securing the services of top players and coaching personnel does not come cheap.

Yet, I’m also fully aware that no one individual in any profession, is worth the sum of £198 million.

I’m aware that no man or woman, in any walk of life, should be paid £515,000 per week, or if you prefer £73,571 per day, or £3065 per hour, or £51.09 per minute, or 85 pence per second.

This deal of course, is by no means out of the blue. It is simply the tip of the iceberg, a culmination of years of extravagant wages, ridiculous agent fees, and excessive player valuations.

Wayne Rooney on £300,000 per week at Manchester United in the twilight years of his career? Andy Carroll moving from Newcastle to Liverpool for £35 million on the back of a season scoring 11 Premiership goals? Paul Pogba’s agent pocketing £41 million from his move to Manchester United? And more recently, Kyle Walker signing for Manchester City in a deal that could eventually be worth more than £50 million?

The above, are merely snippets from within the bubble of distorted reality in which the game now exists. And all, leave more questions than answers.

The money involved has altered the dynamics of football all together, and not for the better.

For too many players, club loyalty plays second fiddle to financial greed. Regular first team football can lose its lure, when an individual can be financially secure for evermore by sitting on the bench elsewhere.

The managerial skill of negotiating in the transfer market, picking up shrewd signings, or employing knowledgeable scouts are subjects now all but eradicated. The rich clubs have got richer, and the not so financially endowed are well aware they can fleece the game’s super powers for ridiculous sums of money.

The transfer market is now a case of who cares least about being ripped off in order to secure a World class signing. About who can stump up an exaggerated fee and meet extortionate wage demands without regard for the potential debt implications further down the line.

And the quality of the player signed, is no longer the outstanding factor.

Already, arguments have surfaced that regardless of whether he brings much-craved European success to PSG, Neymar will repay his fee off the field. The French side now have a famous face to promote them in all corners of the globe, a mercurial talent to widen their appeal, especially in his native South America.

Even if the Brazilian fails to enhance PSG the football team, of equal importance to them, is that he will enhance PSG the brand.

I’ve had similar disputes with football fans over the afore-mentioned Pogba deal to Old Trafford, who argue that despite his anonymity on the field for large parts of last season, he has already proved a worthwhile signing due to the mass shirt sales and exposure he has brought the club.

Maybe at 33, I’ve become a cynical old-fashioned football fan who needs to move with the times. But if I were a supporter of England’s most successful ever side, I’d sooner celebrate the club’s £89 million midfielder stringing a few passes together than I would marvel at his own personalised Twitter emoji.

However, this is now the nature of the beast, and the ordinary fan cannot help but wonder where it will end.

With football in financial ruin? With billions left in unpaid debts? With salary caps and stern regulations on fees and contracts?

Until that point, I shudder to think of the financial precedents this Neymar deal will set. Because whilst the 25-year-old is no less than a phenomenal player, frighteningly, he is yet to earn the tag of the best in the World.

Just short of £200 million is now the set price for one of the game’s elite. If things continue in this manner for much longer, that figure will simply become the norm when Europe’s richest decided top quality reinforcements are needed.

And supporters, already faced with ever rising ticket and merchandise prices as clubs look to maintain their indulgence, will simply further become pawns in the quest for power and success.

Of course, the irony of it all, is that even for those as disillusioned about the game as I am right now, professional football will continue to captivate in abundance.

As a fan, I have never felt so detached from football as this present time – but come next week, my weekend mood will be shaped around Swansea City’s result. My week nights between now and May will be spent glued to Champions League, Premiership, and domestic Cup football. No summer plans for 2018 will be made until World Cup fixtures are finalised.

And nor will I ever dispute that players at the top level deserve rich rewards. Careers are short, expectation levels are high, and jobs are performed in front of thousands in attendance, and millions more watching through other means.

The intrusion into personal lives is intense, and family members are often subjected to pressures, not to mention abuse, that can never be justified.

But we have now gone beyond the stage of ‘rich rewards’. The Neymar deal in particular, tops a long list of developments that transcend beyond obscenity.

So while August 2017 will now always go down as a landmark time for the sport, a month where the transfer of a football icon sent shockwaves to all parts, for me, it will sadly be notorious for something far more sinister.

It’s a time that has capped an era, where football truly sold its soul.