Five players whose transfer fees will increase following Neymar’s €222m move to PSG 

Going to the market with my mother taught me a thing or two about bargaining. When the shopkeeper says 2000 taka, my mother fires back, saying 500. I truly find it very embarrassing. I mean, come on, the guy just said 2000, so how could she start with a quarter of that?

And then there is my father. Going to shop with him is an entirely different experience. The shopkeeper tells him 2000 taka and he ends up paying 3000 for it, inflating the market prices in the process. My mother and father are poles apart when it comes to shopping.

In footballing terms, my mother is Arsenal and my father is…well Paris-Saint Germain. After signing Neymar for €222 million, the whole transfer market is one big inflated mess from which there is no escape.

The asking prices of some players will skyrocket in this window as well as in the future and here are five such players…

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#5 Ousmane Dembele

Dembele might be on his way to Barcelona

The current transfer window has exposed the crevices in the logic of the modern football fan. Neymar was subjected to the worst kind of hate when his move to Paris Saint-Germain was announced. Apparently, his ‘tactics’ didn’t go down well with the fans.

However, as Ousmane Dembele goes AWOL from Dortmund training, Barcelona fans are excited as they sense their club are close to signing the perfect Neymar replacement. Yup. That’s the world we live in.

Anyhow, Dortmund were quick to release an official statement claiming that they couldn’t accept Barcelona’s offer because “it did not correspond to the player’s extraordinary footballing and other abilities nor to the present economic market situation of the European transfer market.”

The last part is what grips me. Basically, it could be roughly translated to “pay €150-200 million or sod off.” Whilst there is no denying that Dembele is the best young talent in the world, paying so much money for a 20-year-old is well over the top.

#4 Philippe Coutinho

The second most expensive player in the world might just be a Brazilian

This is, of course, expected. There are rumours floating around the internet – where else? – that Liverpool have rejected a €100 million bid for the Brazilian. Now, this is enough evidence to claim that anything less than a fee that makes him the second-most expensive player in the world would be trashed by the Merseyside outfit.

Coutinho is brilliant, fantastic, jaw-dropping… I will run out of superlatives to describe the mesmeric abilities of the former Inter man. He is the creative hub that joins the dots in the attack for the Anfield club, but to say that he is worth a fee above €100 million is an exaggeration.

Now, now, yeah, this is the way the market is, but that is the point of the slideshow – the players whose prices are the most affected by Neymar’s deal. And, like it or not, Coutinho is one such player.

#3 Dele Alli

Dele Alli is a star in the making

Ask anyone who the most exciting young English talent in the world is and you can expect everyone, except Manchester United fans, to come up with just one name: Dele Alli. His rise from a Championship level player to an elite Premier League midfielder has been staggering, to say the least.

Along with Marco Asensio, he seems like the best midfield prospect in the world. And it is only a matter of time before the cream of the European crop come seeking the special talent that he oozes.

Even when the market wasn’t as crazy as it is now, British players attracted the biggest transfer fees. The media hype surrounding them has always played a significant role in fuelling their prices. And right now, with the market as it is, it won’t be surprising to see Alli run Neymar close in terms of transfer value in the future.

Also, the fact that Daniel Levy is in charge of transfers makes his case all the more compelling.

#2 Paulo Dybala

Those eyes are always focussed on the goal

There is so much hype surrounding this Argentine that one could mistake him for Lionel Messi. In fact, some actually think that Paulo Dybala is the next Messi. While it is almost impossible to reach the levels that Messi has over the last 10 years or so, the hype around Dybala is enough to warrant a Hollywood transfer fee.

Before Paris Saint-Germain destroyed the transfer market, it was actually Juventus who held the tag for selling the most expensive player in football when they sanctioned the sale of Paul Pogba to Manchester United for roughly €105 million + €5 million in bonuses.

While it is almost certain that Neymar’s transfer record isn’t going to be broken any time soon, we can surely expect Juventus to demand something close to that for Dybala. Either way, Neymar’s sale has added another €50 million to Dybala’s head – and Juventus will not mind one bit.

#1 Kylian Mbappe

Mbappe was supposed to be the most expensive player in the world

Of course. What did you think? That the kid who started all this craziness wouldn't be on this list? I mean, yeah, sure, how can Monaco further inflate his price when it is already at its inflated best? And this is where the catch lies.

Kylian Mbappe’s price tag has been quoted at around €180 million for so long that anything less than €150 million for him would seem like a bargain. This is a great tactic employed by Monaco; they leaked astronomical price tags in an attempt to juice out as much as possible from his potential buyer.

And now that Neymar has cost PSG €222 million, anything less than €200 million will feel like a good deal for the Monaco number 10. But the truth is, in a sane world, paying anything close to even €80 million for a youngster that has played only seven months of competitive football at the top level is just absurd.

But we are living in an absurd world now.