Manchester United have sent a shirt sponsorship proposal to the Indian conglomerate, the Tata Group. United currently have a four-year, £56.4m, contract with AIG but the insurance group said in January it would not be renewing the deal following its recent financial collapse, which led to it being bailed-out by the US government.

"It's reasonably right," a spokesman for Tata said of reports linking them with the European and English champions. "There are various sponsorship options, one for the team shirt. This has been going on for some time but nothing has been finalised."

The Tata Group has interests spanning steel, cars, information technology, communication, power, tea and hotels. Tata Consultancy Services, the software arm of the group, is one of the sponsors of the Ferrari formula one team. United also sent a shirt sponsorship proposal to another Indian company, the Sahara Group, in January.