Tottenham Hotspur sensation Dele Alli can surpass the world-record fee paid by Paris Saint-Germain for Neymar in the next 12 months, according to an expert cited by Goal.

What's the story?

Transfer prices have been on a meteoric rise in recent seasons and Brazilian starlet Neymar became the first player to break through to €200m mark this summer when he controversially left Barcelona to join Paris Saint-Germain, more than doubling the previous record held by Paul Pogba.

Whilst some believe that the inflation on the transfer market is not sustainable, transfer experts CIES claim the record could be broken as swiftly as next summer- telling Goal that Spurs ace Dele Alli is the man they're backing to set a new record.

Alli has excelled since making the grade at Tottenham and is widely regarded to be one of the best young players in the world, which means Spurs may struggle to retain his services, and Europe's biggest sides could come calling at the end of the 2017/18 season.

What's been said?

Quoted by Goal, the head of CIES 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."

Can Spurs keep him?

Tottenham's chances of success in the coming years largely orientate around whether they can keep the key-players within their side, who range from manager Mauricio Pochettino to captain Hugo Lloris and star-striker Harry Kane.

Dele Alli is of course on that list and, like the others, his future remains uncertain as Spurs are in a very testing period in their history. The Lilywhites are looking to prove they're here to stay at the top-end of the Premier League and in the Champions League, all while balancing a move to a new stadium.

Spurs struggled with the step-up in the Champions League last season and the factor of playing at Wembley has been widely discussed. Should they slip out of the top-four this year, then keeping players like Alli at the club will be extremely difficult.