Gilardino is said to be on the shopping lists of Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Parma are in financial crisis following the collapse of the Parmalat company which owns the club and have made it known they have to sell players to survive.
Alberto Gilardino's agent Marcello Bonetto revealed to skysports.com that United had made contact with Parma but that they had not yet spoken to the player.
"I have read about Manchester United's interest - but as yet it has just been a contact between them and Parma," said Bonetto. "We have not been called and I have not heard anything about the interest from Real Madrid. I can say that Gilardino's situation has not changed. There is interest from both Roma and Juventus but there is nothing concrete at the moment. We are waiting to see if Parma can sort out their difficulties."