Real Madrid's record outlay of a reported €101 million for Gareth Bale is a sign of the free market in action, Fifa chief Sepp Blatter said on Tuesday.
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Pressed on the symbolism of the incredible transfer fee to bring the Welshman from Londoners Tottenham Hotspur to the Spanish capital, Blatter declined to comment directly.
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"You'll have to ask Real Madrid," he told reporters at Fifa's headquarters in the Swiss city of Zurich.
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The Bale deal, which comes as Spain is locked in the deepest economic crisis in a generation, has been described by Barcelona boss Gerardo Martino as showing "a lack of respect" given the current climate. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, has described it as a "joke".
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But Blatter said he was reminded of the debate over Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo's £80 million move from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009.
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"At the same time, in Sotheby's in London, there was an auction where they sold a painting of Spanish artist Picasso's Blue Period for 50 million pounds, which at the time was $100 million," he said.
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"At that time I said the man who acquired this painting, he will put it somewhere under closed circuit, because it's dangerous to lose it. But Ronaldo, you'll see at least twice a week in a stadium.
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"So is the price high or not high? I think this is the market, and we cannot intervene in this market," he insisted.
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Real Madrid are top players on the financial front thanks to deals on TV rights and sponsorship, among other revenue streams, and a global brand in their own right.
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The Bale deal is just the latest in a string of "galactico" signings Real president Florentino Perez has made during two spells in charge of the club, in a drive to boost their success on the field and commercial revenue off it.
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Auditors Deloitte's latest Money League report showed that Real had become the first football club to generate more than 500 million euros a year, while Forbes ranked them as the most valuable sports team in the world last month with an estimated value of $3.3 billion.
Real Madrid coach must just give him the chance to settle in and we'll see if he's worth that amount or not..