Eric Dier has urged the public not to resent footballers for the astronomical sums circulating within the game, which he says is "more to do with people way up the food chain".
Multimillion pound transfers and player wages of hundreds of thousands per week are commonplace in football nowadays, which has often led to criticism of the industry and its representatives.
However, Dier has called on people to realise that footballers have their own struggles as well, and stressed that it is not their fault that they are being traded for, and paid, vast sums of money.
"It isn't easy, people don't realise how difficult it is for us to handle as a situation," the Tottenham Hotspur and England midfielder told The Independent.
"At the end of the day we're all the same, we're normal human beings with a gift we've been given, so it's very difficult to handle all of those situations that happen in football with money and fame etc. It's not Ousmane Dembele's fault that he's good at football and someone [at Barcelona] is willing to pay £140m for him. It's more to do with people way up the food chain.
"Everyone knows we are role models and we need to try to carry ourselves in the right way, because thousands or millions of kids are looking up to you in a sense. I think footballers in general as role models are really fantastic and I will say that for all the boys here [with England], I think everyone carries themselves really well."
The world record for a player transfer was smashed this year by Neymar's £200m switch from Barca to Paris Saint-Germain.
