Manchester City Consider Legal Action Over Riquelme's Haaland Claims
Manchester City are weighing up legal action after a Real Madrid presidential candidate publicly vowed to sign Erling Haaland and even held up a Madrid shirt with the striker’s name on it.
The flashpoint came on Spanish television on Wednesday. Enrique Riquelme, a 37-year-old renewable energy tycoon challenging Florentino Perez for the presidency, produced a Real Madrid jersey emblazoned with “Haaland” and made a bold promise.
“He has a release clause and would like to join Real Madrid. If I become president, he will play for Real Madrid,” Riquelme declared.
The response from the Haaland camp was immediate and emphatic. In a joint statement, the forward’s father and agent dismissed the claims, before City moved to shut the story down.
“The stories which have emerged from Spain regarding the future of Erling Haaland are untrue,” the statement read. “There is no chance of this happening and there is no contractual clause to enable it.
“We are considering legal action for the use of our player image in this context.”
From campaign pledge to legal threat in a matter of hours. That is the febrile backdrop to a Real Madrid presidential election that, for once, is not a formality.
Riquelme’s transfer pledges
Haaland was not the only Manchester City star drafted into Riquelme’s manifesto. The candidate also promised to bring Rodri to the Bernabeu, openly outlining his intentions.
“He is a great player, in a position where Madrid need to strengthen,” Riquelme said. “We have spoken to his agent. We have to respect his club, but if I’m president he will play for Madrid. I will do everything possible.”
Those words will not go unnoticed in Manchester. Nor in the offices of La Liga, where the boundaries between campaign rhetoric and tapping-up are likely to be scrutinised.
For Riquelme, the aggressive transfer talk is part of a wider attempt to unseat Perez after two trophyless seasons and growing discontent in the stands at the Santiago Bernabeu.
A rare challenge to Perez
This is the first time in 20 years that Perez has faced a genuine challenger in a presidential election. He remains the overwhelming favourite, but Riquelme has tried to harness frustration over recent results and the direction of the club.
His campaign has been built on grand promises. Among them: a “members’ city” for fans around the training base and a sliding scale on membership fees, with reductions of up to 50% if Madrid fail to win the Champions League next season.
He has also positioned himself directly against one of Perez’s most contentious decisions — the move to bring Jose Mourinho back as head coach. Mourinho’s appointment can only be formally ratified if Perez wins the vote.
Riquelme, by contrast, has floated a very different vision for the dugout.
Klopp in the crosshairs
The challenger and his team have hinted that Jurgen Klopp is their preferred candidate to lead Madrid, once the German’s sabbatical from management ends.
Asked about Klopp in an interview with The Athletic last month, Riquelme did not hide his admiration.
“Naturally, I would love for profiles of that calibre, and others like them, to coach this club,” he said.
It is an enticing pitch: Haaland, Rodri, and Klopp fronting a new era at the Bernabeu. But it is also one that collides head-on with contractual realities and the rights of other clubs, as City’s furious reaction underlines.
High stakes on and off the pitch
Just under 100,000 Real Madrid members are eligible to vote on Sunday, 7 June, in an election called by Perez himself as he seeks a renewed mandate after a stretch of on-field unrest and open disapproval from the stands.
He goes into the ballot as the clear favourite. Riquelme, though, has chosen confrontation over caution — with Perez, with Mourinho’s prospective return, and now with one of the most powerful clubs in Europe.
The members will decide the future of Real Madrid. Manchester City’s lawyers may decide how far a presidential campaign can go in using another club’s stars as election bait.
