Football Researcher Tips Dele Alli to Break World-Record Transfer Fee as Early as Next Year

Dele Alli could end up breaking the world-record transfer fee currently held by Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar.

That is according to Raffaele Poli, the head of the Football Observatory at the International Centre for Sports (CIES), who claimed that it is only a matter of time before the £200m record is smashed again by someone like the Tottenham Hotspur ace.

In quotes attributed to Poli by Goal, the football finance expert tipped Dele to secure a huge move to another club if he manages to perform at his very best for Spurs in the Premier League and Champions League, and have a superb tournament at the 2018 World Cup for England.

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Poli said: "Potentially it can be broken already next year.

"A player like Dele Alli – if he does well, if he does a good domestic league with Tottenham, if he does a good Champions League campaign, if he does a good World Cup with England next year then I wouldn't be surprised if he could be transferred for more than Neymar's price.

"This wouldn't be a sign of inflation by itself. It depends on how he performs, but Neymar was not the most inflated transfer during the last window."

Alli and Spurs team mate Harry Kane were ranked second and third behind Neymar in CIES' 'most valuable player' study back in June, with the pair judged to be worth £140m and £138m respectively.

The latest figure that the 21-year-old is ranked at - £164m - is just £2m shy of Barcelona megastar Lionel Messi, but Poli insisted that such massive fees would only be reserved for the best players on the planet and were not the best way of showing how inflation is effecting football as a whole.

He added: "There were other transfers like Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele or Benjamin Mendy to Manchester City that were more inflated than the Neymar one.

"A high price does not mean high inflation. It depends on the characteristics of the players. The surprise was not the price, it was that Neymar accepted to change teams because at first glance he was very well at Barcelona.

"At the current inflation it is possible to have €200m transfer every summer but that does not mean it will happen.

"There are only a few players that can have this value and it is up to these players to say 'okay, I want to move' or not."