Will the £200m Paris St-Germain-paid Barcelona for Neymar Jr ever be surpassed?
Records are there to be broken, but that figure has stood as football's most expensive sum for almost a decade now and it is hard to see anyone topping it soon.
Yet tracking the progression of the world record fee offers an insight into evolving trends of power and dominance in global football – from the Italian golden era to Real Madrid's Galactico splurge and, ultimately, Parisian riches.
In the past half century, since Vicenza made jointly-owned Paolo Rossi the most expensive player when acquiring him from Juventus, the record has been broken 20 times, most recently in 2017.
The names glitter like their price tags, Diego Maradona and Brazilian Ronaldo both there twice – being the world's most expensive footballer places you in an elite club where goals, glory and prestige are currency.
Not all premium purchases pack a punch, of course. Neymar brought profile and panache to Paris but could not deliver the holy grail of European success, Denilson's trickery failed to help Real Betis beat the drop, a car crash curtailed Gigi Lentini's buccaneering brilliance.
But let's look at those record deals that did prove a hit – value for money, if you like, moves that would have money saving expert Martin Lewis nodding approvingly.
I've ranked the top 10 from the past 50 years. You can have your say below, too.
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"Wales, Golf, Madrid." Gareth Bale wasn't always adored at the Bernabeu, and when former Real Madrid star Predrag Mijatovic suggested those were the order of the Welshman's priorities, it stuck.
For all the noise that he didn't care, though, Bale left Madrid with five European crowns.
Only Cristiano Ronaldo has more than his three Champions League final goals and arguably no one has done it better than Bale's 2018 bicycle kick against Liverpool.
His legacy among Madridistas may have been scorched by his penchant for the putting green, but Bale's ability to deliver big moments, and 106 goals in total, eked enough from his £86m arrival in 2013 to reach number 10 on this list.
Gareth Bale joined Real Madrid from Tottenham for £86m in 2013 – he won five Champions Leagues, scoring in two finals, as well as three La Liga titles, a Copa del Rey and numberous super cups
Which one of Ronaldo's world record moves was better? When he burst into the global footballing conscious with 47 goals in 49 games during a single season at Barcelona after arriving from PSV for £13.2m?
Or the debut campaign at Inter where, up against the pound-for-pound best defenders in the world, he toyed with Serie A markers and netted 34 goals in all competitions?
His first Ballon d'Or in 1997 straddled those electric campaigns, starring in Barcelona's Cup Winners' Cup and Copa del Rey triumphs, and at the Nou Camp they were certainly wowed – the Catalan giants just wish they could have held on to 'The Phenomenon' for longer.
Inter, having stumped up the Brazilian's buyout clause, got a 20-year-old with the world at his record-breaking feet who would lead them to Uefa Cup glory that season and later captain the Nerazzurri.
Ronaldo's Barcelona stint only lasted one season, but saw him score 47 goals in 49 games for Bobby Robson's side. At Inter, he netted 59 in 99 games
But Ronaldo's dreaded knee injuries meant his time at San Siro never realised the glorious heights of that first scintillating season.
After the initial injury in November 1999, by which point Inter had paid another world record fee for Christian Vieri, Ronaldo managed only 10 Serie A games in two years before joining Real Madrid after Brazil's 2002 World Cup triumph.
With that in mind, Ronaldo's Barcelona transfer pips his Inter move to come in at eight. If his mesmerising spell in Blaugrana had lasted longer, it would be a lot higher…
Alan Shearer scored 206 goals in 405 games during 10 seasons at Newcastle, after joining from Blackburn for £15m in 1996 – a fee that with inflation has been suggested would be worth more than £200m today
The summer of 1996 was a fruitful one for club accountants. Before July was out, Newcastle United broke the record again to take Alan Shearer from Blackburn Rovers.
Shearer – after three successive seasons scoring more than 30 Premier League goals and a Euro 96 Golden Boot – had his pick of Manchester United or Real Madrid.
Instead he chose a £15m homecoming, looking to propel Kevin Keegan's Toon outfit from runners-up to title winners.
The goals flowed even if the silverware didn't – 206 in total, the England striker charged around St James', arm aloft, to become Newcastle and the Premier League's all-time top scorer.
Netting the most satisfying volley in Champions League final history is perhaps worth the £46.6m Real Madrid paid Juventus for Zinedine Zidane alone. Real purchased peak Zizou and got an immediate delivery on their dough that season.
The Frenchman joins this list at six as, despite that being his only European triumph as a player, Zidane's affiliation with the club saw him return to lead Madrid to three successive crowns from the dugout.
Barca fans threw objects, including a pig's head, at former star Luis Figo every time he took a corner during the Clasico in November 2002 – such was the volume of objects thrown that play was suspended at the Nou Camp for almost 20 minutes in the second half
The transfer that altered the course of Real Madrid's modern history, though, was snagging Luis Figo from bitter rivals Barcelona in 2000, heralding the dawn of Florentino Perez's presidency and the club's Galactico era, breaking the transfer record five times in a row over the next 13 years.
Perez, bidding to be elected, bet all his chips on bringing Figo to Madrid as the Portugal star's contract talks at the Nou Camp stalled.
Figo unwittingly found himself embroiled in a soap opera of a transfer saga – power in the hands of those who wanted a slice of his talent and crazed by the cash that came with it.
Figo looked dazed and bewildered at his unveiling but showed his class once he hit the Bernabeu turf. Winning the Ballon d'Or months after arriving in Madrid, in part for his form at Barcelona, was further salt in the Catalan club's wounds.
Barca's Culers responded with a pig's head.
Roberto Baggio scored 115 goals in 200 games at Juventus during an Italian era characterised by frugal defending. Baggio won the Uefa Cup and Serie A title, as well as landing the Ballon d'Or while in Turin
The story goes Fiorentina president Flavio Pontello had to barricade himself inside Stadio Artemio Franchi as a rioting mob of angry La Viola fans protested the sale of star Roberto Baggio to rivals Juventus for a world record £8m in May 1990.
The same wrath greeted Baggio on his return to Florence even as 'The Divine Ponytail', who converted to Buddhism after a career-threatening injury, refused to take a spot-kick against his old club and then wrapped one of the purple scarves thrown towards him around his neck.
That did nothing to satisfy supporters in Turin, who felt Baggio was reluctant to join anyway, even if the diminutive Italian's brilliance helped drag Juventus to a Uefa Cup triumph in 1993 and overcome Milan's Serie A dominance two years later.
Baggio left Stadio delle Alpi with 115 goals and 54 assists in 200 games, but the 1993 Ballon d'Or winner's contribution cannot be determined merely by stats.
Following Baggio at three is Ruud Gullit, a transformative cog in Silvio Berlusconi's own all-star cast assembled at San Siro after joining AC Milan from PSV for £6m in 1987.
Shortly after touching down in Milan, the versatile 'total footballer' who could play anywhere and do almost anything with his poise, skill and formidable frame, won the Ballon d'Or and helped the Rossoneri clinch a first Scudetto in a decade.
Gullit was one of three famed Dut
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