So Real Madrid have bought Xabi Alonso for a mere £30million, the latest blow in their tit-for-tat with Manchester City to see who can spend the most grotesque amount of money this summer. It's like watching rival pantomime dames stuff their bras with ever more ludicrous amounts of tissue.
Football's big boys may blithely carry on paying no heed to the world around them, but the economic realities we're all dealing with are going to hit them sooner or later.