Chelsea have spent around £600 million on the likes of Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella and Kalidou Koulibaly in the summer as well as Mykhaylo Mudryk, Joao Felix and World Cup Winner Enzo Fernandez in January. United splashed out around £230 million, raiding the Dutch Eredivisie for Lisandro Martinez, Antony and Tyrell Malacia as well as signing Casemiro from Real Madrid.
Chelsea in particular now has a bloated squad, leaving many on the fringes of the team and leaving new boss Graham Potter with a major selection headache.
Crucially, financial fair play rules mean that both clubs cannot continue to spend these vast sums and so departures are needed to facilitate further financial outlays.
Reports suggest Chelsea are happy to let Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leave who has been poor since his move from Barcelona. The club are also prepared to say goodbye to Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech who will bring in significant transfer fees. Ziyech was expected to leave Chelsea in January but a move to PSG collapsed at the last minute. Other players up for sale include Mateo Kovacic, Callum Hudson-Odoi as well Jorginho whose contract is set to expire in the summer.
Manchester United are willing to say goodbye to the divisive Harry Maguire who has been displaced by Martinez at the back. Anthony Martial, Scott McTominay, Donny van de Beek, Eric Bailly and Alex Telles are also in the Old Trafford shop window for the summer.
Both clubs are interested in Napoli's Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen who Napoli value at £100 million and both need as much financial legroom as possible if they are going to finish the Summer with Serie A's most prolific goalscorer.
