Man United's search for a new sponsor began in November when mobile phone giant Vodafone ended its £36m deal with the world's most famous football club two years early.
Air Etihad, the national airline for the United Arab Emirates, or Doha-based Qatar Airways will reportedly be looking at paying between £55m and £60m for the four-year deal.
The winning brand will appear on all Man United branding, including the players' shirts and, if reports are to be believed, even the ground at Old Trafford could carry the name, although the Man United website rubbished these claims today.
A spokesman said: "Renaming Old Trafford is not even being considered."
However, if this did happen it would be in line with what rivals Arsenal are doing with their new stadium and sponsor. The new Ashburton Grove ground is to be known as the Emirates stadium.
The search for a new sponsor is being headed by Malcolm Glazer's son, Bryan Glazer, who was responsible for the commercial resurgence of American Football team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
When news first broke that Vodafone had ended the deal, some of the world's biggest global brands emerged as possible sponsors including Coca-Cola, Yahoo! and IBM.
The sponsorship is likely to be concluded within the next week to allow enough time for Manchester United's kit manufacturer Nike to make the new shirts for the start of the 2006/2007 football season in August.
Phil Carling, head of football at Octagon, said whichever company secured the sponsorship would give them "immediate credibility and scale, and access to the consumers through media platforms that will accelerate this growth".
Vodafone took over as shirt sponsor from electronic goods manufacturer Sharp in early 2000.
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