Alan Nixon, everyone’s favourite Sunday writer, has linked Everton with a possible takeover by soft drinks giant Red Bull.

The owners of imaginatively named New York Red Bulls and Red Bull Salzburg apparently want to buy an English team and “give it wings.”

According to Nixon, an “insider” said, “Red Bull want a team to take into the Champions League. It is the only market they have not reached yet. Ideally this would be in the London area, but both Everton and Liverpool interest them too because it would not take much to get them to that level.

“They have looked at the Championship, but you can spend fortunes there and not make any progress.”

Ralf Rangnick, who was heavily linked with the manager’s job at Everton in the summer, is apparently heading the hunt for Red Bull, who would no doubt face stiff opposition should they try and change the name of any Premier League club – but adding the word “red” to Everton’s name might prove a step too far, even for them.