5 players who can potentially break Neymar's transfer record when they move

Paris Saint Germain shocked the whole world when they triggered FC Barcelona star Neymar Jr's release clause of 222 million Euros. A transfer that was seen as impossible at some stage, has now become a reality.

With TV revenues constantly growing and with football's popularity increasing day by day, we can expect Neymar's move to the French giants, to lead into heavy inflammation in the market. From this point onward, the valuation of players in Europe's top 5 leagues will increase, and clubs will raise their financial demands.

Keeping that in mind, here are 5 players who have the potential to break Neymar's transfer record, if they were to move away from their respective clubs.

#5 - Marco Verratti:

Paris Saint Germain thoroughly faced strong Barcelona interest in signing Marco Verratti over the past few months, but the French giants have always insisted that the midfield architect is priceless and has no valuation in the market.

As it is commonly known, the release clause in France is nothing but a gentleman's agreement, so in practice, Nasser Al Khelaifi is not forced to sell the Italian international no matter what bid the Catalans were to come up with.

If the day ever comes where PSG find themselves with no option but to offload Verratti, then it would certainly require a world-record transfer fee to convince them to let go.

#4 - Cristiano Ronaldo:

Real Madrid have won it all in the past few seasons, from the Spanish league, to the UEFA Champions League, to the FIFA Club World Cup. Without Cristiano Ronaldo, one could argue that the Liga giants would have had a hard time achieving the same amount of silverware.

While it is true that Ronaldo is 32 years old, he remains fundamental in Real Madrid's success, and it would be extremely difficult to convince Florentino Pérez to sell him.

The Portuguese star's release clause is over a billion Euros, so the only way to acquire his services would be to reach a gentleman's agreement with the reigning champions of Europe.

Would the ultra-rich Madrid-based side let go of their number one star for anything less than 250 million Euros in today's market? This scenario would be extremely hard to imagine.

#3 - Isco:

Francisco Román Alarcón Suárez, commonly known as Isco, has been one of the most decisive player for Real Madrid in the past 12 months. Despite a hard time in proving his worth under the guidance of Carlo Ancelotti and Rafa Benitez, it seems that the Spain international has finally cemented his place in Zinedine Zidane's starting lineup.

Crucial in the late stages of the Champions League and La Liga, Isco was one of the main reasons in helping Real Madrid overcome Barcelona's dominance and finally claim their first league title since 2013.

With a release clause of over 700 million Euros, no club in the world has the financial power to trigger his buyout fee - besides the fact that the UEFA Financial Fair Play rules would certainly have its say if such an unimaginable fee was to be discussed.

However, if Isco was ever to be sold, then Madrid would certainly ask for an extremely elevated fee that would surpass what PSG had to pay for Neymar.

#2 - Marco Asensio:

And yes, it is yet another Real Madrid player! The reasons why the Spanish club has dominated this list are pretty obvious. Besides their ultra-rich status and their gigantic financial resources, 'Los Blancos' have won two UEFA Champions League titles in a row, becoming the first club to ever do it since the new format began in 1992/1993.

With Marco Asensio scoring on his La Liga, Copa del Rey, Champions League and Spanish Supercup debuts, it is no surprise why the 21-year old is considered as the biggest prospect in Spanish football and one of the brightest talent in Europe.

Real Madrid will never be tempted to let go of a youngster who is already good enough for the first team, and possesses the potential to fight for the Ballon d'Or in the upcoming years.

Well, unless some other club was crazy enough to tempt the devil with an imaginary fee that surpasses the mark of 250 million Euros. It is worth nothing that Madrid are reportedly in discussions to renew Asensio's contract for a buyout clause of over 500 million Euros.

#1 - Lionel Messi:

Lionel Messi might have reached 30 years of age, but he is still in the eyes of many, the best player in the world.

The Argentinian has guided Barcelona to so many prestigious trophies over the past few years, and is considered as the Catalan club's biggest idol. After losing Neymar, who was supposed to be Messi's future replacement, it is practically impossible that Barça accepts to sell the Argentinian at any cost, even less so, if the transfer fee is inferior to what Paris Saint Germain paid for Neymar.

Messi's buyout clause is over 300 million Euros and his contract expires in June 2018, however, it is extremely unlikely that the La Masia product ever leaves the club of his heart on a free. He has stated on numerous occasions that he dreams to retire at Barcelona.

But with the current incompetent board in charge of the club, one would not be surprised if they ever considered the idea of offloading Messi in order to generate a huge amount of cash. In this case, the transfer of the 5-time Ballon d'Or winner would definitely be for a world record fee.