Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini has admitted that he will be forced to sell either Davide Santon or Xherdan Shaqiri this summer, or they will not be able to play a single game up to the winter break.
New Serie A rules which come into force this season mean clubs must submit a 25-man squad list for their league games up until the January transfer window.
Inter have already invested in Geoffrey Kondogbia, Jeison Murillo, Joao Miranda and Martin Montoya this summer while they are also closing in on the signing of Ivan Perisic from Wolfsburg. That means the ranks have swelled to the point where at least one player, if not more, now needs to be sold.
Santon and Shaqiri are being touted as the main candidates to leave the Nerazzurri, even though Mancini admits he would regret selling either.
"This season, the squad has got to have 25 players and it wouldn't be right to have to leave one of them off the list," he told Mediaset television. "It pains me to say it, but somebody has got to leave."
Shaqiri, who only arrived from Bayern in January, almost moved to Stoke before the club pulled out of a £12 million deal, while Bild reports that Schalke are keen to secure a deal but have to sell players first to raise the cash.
The Swiss international may be included in a bid for Wolfsburg's Perisic, but if that swap were to go through, that would still leave one name to be scratched from Mancini's squad before the season starts, especially since they are continuing to monitor other targets.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been linked with a return to Inter and AC Milan, but despite insisting that it would "make them a serious candidate for the Scudetto," Mancini cannot see that move happening.
"He's a great player, but that doesn't mean he's coming back to Inter," he said. "He's a PSG player."