Texas technology magnate John Moores has plans of a football empire.

Moores, who owned the San Diego Padres baseball team for 18 years, is understood to be in talks about buying Everton.

And he is also interested in bringing a Major League Soccer team to San Diego which could act as a feeder club for the Merseysiders, says the Daily Star.

He has long been courted by the MLS and could boost Everton's profile in the US with a tie-up that involved regular pre-season games there against an expansion franchise.

But while he's repeatedly been advised not to invest in football by those close to him, he and business partner Charles Noell are intent on buying Everton first.