Now, I am fully aware of the fact that the vast majority of my articles are constructed from a negative standpoint, a ‘glass half empty’ mind set, but that is usually because in this fantastic world of the beautiful game, there isn’t a lot that is purely simple. It is extremely rare these days to actually find something within this sport that is genuine, real and without any sort of ulterior motive. If a superstar panders to the cameras and delivers a press conference, most of the time it’s not because that particular player actually wants to interact with the outside world, it’s usually because their manager has ordered them to answer a couple of questions. If the boss calls a youngster into his office and tells him that they are going to be starting next weekends game, it’s hardly ever because the gaffer actually wants to nurture the potential, more likely its due to a Senior player being injured and the manager having no alternative but to rely on an unproven, untested talent.

Nothing in the sport is as simple as black and white, good and bad, light and dark. And yes, I will admit that it is far easier to concoct an article whilst being a miserable sod, as is the natural way of the human race to constantly criticise and wish for change beyond our own reach, however, today, there is actually something truly worrying that I wish to address. Well, I say worrying, perhaps what I really mean is disturbing?, I’m unsure, you make your own mind up about this one.

There is a Brazilian superkid (yes, another one) that goes by the name of Lucas Rodrigues Moura da Silva, or simply Lucas. He is 18 years old, 5 foot 7″ tall and occupies an attacking midfield role for his current club, his only ever club, Sao Paulo. At Sao Paulo he has played as little as 30 games, scoring 8 goals. He has featured 9 times for the Brazil U20 squad, and 4 times for the Brazil senior side. He has only ever played within the Brazilian league, has had no exposure to European football and is perfectly happy at his current club. He is currently valued, by a host of top European teams, at an average asking price of £95m. His rise to global acclaim has only happened within the past two weeks, and already there are cries of a new Puskas, a new di Stefano, Maradona reincarnated. He is being tracked by both Manchester clubs, Chelsea, Real Madrid and both Milan clubs.

You add this to the startling proclamation of Thiago Alcantara, who, after only ever playing 14 senior games for his club Barcelona, has sealed a new 4 year deal with a buyout clause of £80m, and you start to wonder, are these kids actually the second coming of the greatest we have ever seen, or are they simple commodities stuck with price tags to be used in financial war?.

Maybe its a sign of the times?. Perhaps, as the world of football continues to develop, we are going to see these sort of monetary values become even more common place, perhaps in the not too distant future, every single transfer negotiation will skip the early bidding and go straight in at £40m?. This may be inevitable, we may have to simply sit back and hark at the unstoppable upscale of a miners leisure activity. All I will say, is that labelling a child with a price tag of close to £100m without ever really seeing them play, without them ever having actually visited the country you want them to permanently emigrate too, is absolutely, clinically, unequivocably, insane.