The BBC lost the rights to the TV highlights when ITV bid £183m for them, trouncing the BBC's £40m offer.
BBC director general Greg Dyke is understood to have been holding meetings with finance chiefs aimed at raising money to secure the rights when the bidding starts in the summer.
According to the Mail on Sunday, a BBC source said: "The BBC is gearing up to return the football to its rightful home. Dyke is desperate to bring back 'Match of the Day'."
'Match of the Day' regularly drew more than 4m viewers and its presenters included Jimmy Hill and Des Lynam. It is expected Gary Lineker would host the show, because Lynam defected to ITV to front its highlights programme, 'The Premiership'.
'The Premiership' has had a turbulent life at ITV. The show was given the peaktime 7pm slot on Saturday evenings in 2001, in what was seen as a risky move by the broadcaster, but it did not last. It was moved to the 10.10pm slot after the show only drew an audience of 4.4m at a time that had drawn as many as 8m viewers with shows such as 'Blind Date', which eventually replaced it.
According to an ITV spokesman, the programme is "performing well" and attracting 5m viewers in the later slot.
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