Boston lawyer Steve Gans has also received the required three letters of nomination needed to run, the report added.
Nominees must submit their applications by Dec. 12.
"Donovan, who had no comment, has been asked by a number of respected figures in American soccer to contemplate running," according to the report.
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"They're concerned about Sunil Gulati continuing to control decisions on the technical side -- including hiring head coach -- and think Donovan is better qualified to handle the soccer aspects of the job."
Gulati's position has come under intense scrutiny since the U.S. last week failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, after losing their final qualifying game against Trinidad and Tobago.
Gulati, 58, refused to resign after the World Cup debacle.
A senior economics lecturer at Colombia University in New York, Gulati has presided over a period of economical stability as USSF chief.
Donovan, 35, might not bring Gulati's economic knowledge to the job, but his playing credentials are second to none.
He scored 57 goals in 154 international appearances for the U.S. and is their equal highest goalscorer with Clint Dempsey.
"I think there are a number of reasons we're missing the best kids, but the fact is we are missing a lot of the best kids," Donovan told the New York Times last week, speaking of the country's underachievement in the men's game.
"And that should not be the situation in a country of this size, with the resources we have, where kids are getting passed over for any reason, whether it's socioeconomic status, race, religion, proximity to a club."
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
