Manchester United's owners, the Glazer family, are considering a share sale in Singapore to help raise money to reduce some of their debts.
The BBC's sports editor David Bond says an initial public offering (IPO) is one of a number of refinancing options the American family is examining.
But, he says, they are only considering selling a minority stake - perhaps no more than 25%.
If successful, such a move could raise £400m ($657m). The Old Trafford club was listed on the London stock market until it was taken over by the Glazers in 2005.
A partial sale share would mean that no outside person could take control of the club.
At the same time, it would provide the Glazers with much needed revenues that would help pay down some of the debt that was taken on to finance the takeover.
Growing market
United has more than 300 million fans around the world and more than 190 million of those are in Asia. The region has become a growth area for the club and other Premier League teams.
"Tottenham Hotspur are coming through here prospecting; Chelsea is setting up management operations," Fuse Sport's Mr Heyhoe Flint explained.
"All of them want to engage with the fans out here, find partners, increase their TV distribution and increase their commercial partnerships."
Analysts said that the rise in football's popularity may help Manchester United get a better price for its shares by tapping into this new fan base.
In March, Manchester United's parent company said it made a loss of £108.9m in 2009-10. Red Football Joint Venture is the Glazer family parent company that owns the Old Trafford club.
Its loss, for the year to the end of July 2010, included one-off costs from setting up a £526m bond scheme last January to replace outstanding debts of £509m.
There was also a drop in player sale income, compared to the previous summer when Cristiano Ronaldo was sold.
source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/
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