The summer transfer window is in full swing.
Summer transfer window
Now that the year's major international tournaments are gradually concluding, the biggest war chests in the beautiful game are opening wide to secure a whole host of mega-money deals.
So far, the business has largely been limited to Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United's deal for Jadon Sancho, but you get the feeling that the market will crank into gear any moment now.
However, while we're waiting for the biggest deals to start gathering pace, we've decided to look at times where clubs have paid a little more than maybe should have done in the transfer market.
Varane to Manchester United Done Deal (Football Terrace)
Inflated transfer fees
That's right, we're calling upon the data gurus at Transfermarkt to establish the most overpriced starting XI in the history of football and some of the financial statistics are truly eye-watering.
To achieve this, Transfermarkt have a brilliant system where the transfer fee paid for a player can be compared to the estimated market value of said footballer at the time that the deal was completed.
That duly allows us to see which players attracted fees that were miles upon miles higher than what they were actually estimated to be worth.
From that point onwards, we've taken the most overpriced player in each position to build our crazy line-up where one superstar even moved for £109.80 million more than he was thought to be worth.
Most overpaid XI in history
And yes, please bear in mind that the starting XI that has been calculated by the aforementioned means, which are totally objective and by no means pass judgement on the success of the move.
Besides, spoiler alert, Virgil van Dijk makes an appearance in the back four, which goes to show that sometimes having to pay miles above a player's transfer value can actually be worth every penny.
Got it? Ok, cool, so be sure to sure to check out the most overpriced XI of all time down below:
GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga (Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea) - £54.00 million difference
Transfer fee: £72.00 million
Market value at the time: £18.00 million
RB: Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester City) - £20.43 million
Transfer fee: £47.43 million
Market value at the time: £27.00 million
CB: Virgil van Dijk (Southampton to Liverpool) - £49.19 million
Transfer fee: £76.19 million
Market value at the time: £27.00 million
CB: Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Bilbao to Manchester City) - £36.00 million
Transfer fee: £58.50 million
Market value at the time: £22.50 million
LB: Benjamin Mendy (AS Monaco to Manchester City) - £40.05 million
Transfer fee: £51.75 million
Market value at the time: £11.70 million
CM: Paul Pogba (Juventus to Manchester United) - £31.50 million
Transfer fee: £94.50 million
Market value at the time: £63.00 million
CM: Kevin De Bruyne (Wolfsburg to Manchester City) - £27.90 million
Transfer fee: £68.40 million
Market value at the time: £40.50 million
CM: Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool to Barcelona) - £40.50 million
Transfer fee: £121.50 million
Market value at the time: £81.00 million
RW: Ousmane Dembele (Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona) - £91.80 million
Transfer fee: £121.50 million
Market value at the time: £29.70 million
ST: Joao Felix (Benfica to Atletico Madrid) - £51.48 million
Transfer fee: £114.48 million
Market value at the time: £63.00 million
LW: Neymar (Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain) - £109.80 million
Transfer fee: £199.80 million
Market value at the time: £90.00 million
Barcelona and Man City's wild spending
Talk about a mixed bag! De Bruyne and Van Dijk really go to show that paying through your teeth isn't inherently a bad thing, while Dembele and Coutinho well and truly demonstrate the opposite.
There are certainly some serial offenders when it comes to paying over the odds with Manchester City and Barcelona clearly enjoying throwing caution to the wind by paying above player values.
Obviously, that was likely out of their hands due to the fees being demanded by the selling clubs, but they still had to take the bait and their willingness is illustrated by the composition of this XI.
Either that or City are just a little loose with their wallet when it comes to defenders and Barca love a flutter on attackers whereas the less said about the Chelsea and Kepa debacle the better.
So, sure, it's not always necessary to wait for the big sales when you're splashing your cash, but just be careful that you're spending your precious money on a Van Dijk as opposed to a Dembele.