Till now it has been seen that the football leagues generate more attention than cricket but now the trend is reversing as the reports are there that a premier league football club of Britain has shown interest in buying an Indian Premier League franchisee.

There are two Indian Premier League cricket franchises to be added for the 2011 season. The IPL in 2011 will see ten teams fighting for the crown and Mr. Lalit Modi, commissioner of IPL, confirmed that an English Premier League football club has shown a keen interest to purchase one team.

Though Modi has not revealed the name of the club but the indication says that it is none other than Manchester United. Lalit Modi said that the identity of the club would be revealed in March when the 2011 tender process begins.

"There is a very famous football club in the UK very interested in bidding. Probably top three," said Modi.

The new proposed franchises will be sold through an auction of sealed bids from 12 March this year and the expected base price for each team is supposed to be around $225 million (£143million).

Also Modi revealed that he is in talks with the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) who are also planning to become a team owner in the IPL 2011.