Manchester City and Liverpool will be seen as the yardstick by the chasing pack after they pulled away to set up a tantalising race for the Premier League title last season.
Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and United were left in their wake and will want to close the gap next campaign by investing heavily in the summer. Liverpool, equally, know they may need to delve deep into their pockets in order to take that next jump while Pep Guardiola has never been one to rest on his laurels - even after successive Premier League titles.
All of the 'big six' are expected to have busy summers as they look to strengthen over the coming months. Here, Sportsmail have outlined their targets, strategy and which players could be on their way out as the transfer window opens for business.
The Premier League's big six will want to invest to close the gap on champions Man City
The transfer window will open just after midnight on Thursday, May 16 and will remain open until 5pm on Thursday, August 8
Domestic transfers can be completed from midnight on May 16 but transfers from abroad can only be finalised once the FIFA Transfer Matching System (TMS) opens at midnight on June 9.
In France, the transfer window will open on June 11. In Italy and Germany it will be on July 1 and in Spain it will be on July 2.
Targets: Goalkeeper, full-back, centre-back, def midfield, midfield, forward
Who could go: Claudio Bravo, Danilo, Nicolas Otamendi, Eliaquim Mangala, Vincent Kompany, Ilkay Gundogan, Leroy Sane
Budget: £150m plus player sales revenue
Plan: Pep Guardiola only needs to tweak his fantastic squad but City's recruitment will be influenced by key players getting older and a potential transfer ban looming.
Vincent Kompany, Fernandinho and David Silva will all need to be replaced over the next 18 months while contract issues remain unresolved with Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane. With that in mind this summer could be busier than expected as they plan ahead with some targets lined up now for future windows.
Benfica's Joao Felix is of interest and £60million-rated Rodri of Atletico Madrid is highly regarded though a move for Leicester City's Ben Chilwell is likely to be put on hold for a year after Oleksandr Zinchenko improved. Atletico Madrid among others want Nicolas Otamendi.
Manchester City are keen to sign Benfica wonderkid Joao Felix in the summer window
Defender Nicolas Otamendi could leave City in the summer with Atletico Madrid interested
Targets: Goalkeeper, left-back, winger, striker
Who could go: Simon Mignolet, Alberto Moreno, Daniel Sturridge, Dejan Lovren, Rafael Camacho, Xherdan Shaqiri
Budget: £100m
Plan: Liverpool have a strong core in place and some talented youngsters pushing to make a breakthrough. Sporting director Michael Edwards and his recruitment team have been astute in their work and want to continue building a legacy so will target young, hungry players who can put the current first team under pressure.
They will look at players in their early 20s with a work ethic to suit Jurgen Klopp's philosophy and a sensible price tag. Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze, Ajax's David Neres and Bayer Leverkusen's Julian Brandt have been assessed as have Nicolas Pepe at Lille and Bristol City's highly-rated 20-year-old defender Lloyd Kelly.
A goalkeeper will be brought in as back-up for Alisson Becker should Mignolet leave but Liverpool look to have cooled interest in Celta Vigo striker Maxi Gomez.
Liverpool are one of several Premier League clubs chasing Ajax forward David Neres
Xherdan Shaqiri could depart in the summer despite a decent debut season on Merseyside
Targets: Left-back, centre-back, midfielder, winger, striker
Who could go: Eden Hazard, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Willian, Davide Zappacosta, Danny Drinkwater, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Gary Cahill
Budget: £150m
Plan: Chelsea don't want to let any key players leave while under a transfer ban. They are hoping that their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over FIFA's ban allows them wriggle room to trade in this window.
Eden Hazard wants to join Real Madrid though they must improve on the offer made in March and come closer to the £100m Marina Granovskaia wants. In turn, Chelsea obviously need quality cover for such a departure or indeed others.
They know
