Afellay have an £11million buyout clause in his contract with PSV Eindhoven, something that should not be a problem for either United or City.
It is believed Afellay would be keen on a move to the Premiership despite already playing Champions League football with PSV.
Afellay has also been linked with a move to Arsenal in recent weeks.
Dutch legend Ronald Koeman has compared Afellay to Johan Cruyff.
He said: “Ibrahim has certain things in his style that can be compared to Johan Cruyff’s game.
“He can speed up with the ball, he can whizz past players as if they are puppets. He has qualities as an attacker which we hardly see these days in football.”
