Manchester City Consider Legal Action Over Haaland and Rodri Claims
Manchester City are weighing up legal action after a Real Madrid presidential candidate brazenly vowed on live television to sign Erling Haaland and Rodri if he wins power at the Bernabeu.
Haaland shirt stunt sparks fury
Enrique Riquelme, a 37-year-old renewable energy tycoon challenging Florentino Perez in Sunday’s presidential election, lit the fuse during a TV appearance on Wednesday. He produced a Real Madrid shirt with Haaland’s name on the back and declared the Manchester City striker would join if he takes office.
“He has a release clause and would like to join Real Madrid. If I become president, he will play for Real Madrid,” Riquelme said.
The response from the Haaland camp was immediate and emphatic. In a joint statement, his father and agent dismissed the claims, before City themselves 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.”
For City, who have fought hard to control the narrative around their star striker’s future, the use of Haaland’s name and image as apparent campaign material has clearly crossed a line.
Rodri next on the wishlist
Riquelme did not stop at Haaland. He went further, publicly targeting another cornerstone of Pep Guardiola’s side.
He pledged to sign City midfielder Rodri, calling him “a great player, in a position where Madrid need to strengthen”.
“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,” Riquelme said.
Those remarks drag a second key City figure into the storm and deepen the sense that the club’s players are being used as political capital in a bitter election battle in Madrid.
A rare challenge to Perez
Riquelme’s intervention comes at a volatile moment for Real Madrid. For the first time in 20 years, Florentino Perez is not standing unopposed. The vote, called by Perez himself for Sunday, 7 June, arrives after two seasons without a major trophy and rising discontent in the stands at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Just under 100,000 club members are eligible to decide the presidency. Perez remains the overwhelming favourite, but Riquelme has tried to shake up the race with headline promises and big-name targets.
His campaign has leaned heavily on grand gestures: a proposed “members’ city” around the training base for fans, and a pledge to cut annual membership fees by up to 50% if Madrid fail to win the Champions League next season.
The message is clear – change, giveaways, and star power.
Mourinho, Klopp and a clash of visions
The election is not only about players. It is also a referendum on the club’s next coach.
Perez has already moved towards a reunion with Jose Mourinho, but the appointment can only be formally confirmed if he secures re-election. Riquelme is openly against that decision and has positioned himself as the man with a different vision for the dugout.
He and his campaign team have repeatedly hinted that former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is their prime target. Speaking to The Athletic last month, Riquelme said: “Naturally, I would love for profiles of that calibre, and others like them, to coach this club.”
Haaland. Rodri. Klopp. Riquelme has filled his manifesto with some of the biggest names in the modern game.
Now the question is whether those promises energise Madrid’s members or push them back towards the stability of Perez – and whether Manchester City choose to turn this from a war of words into a legal fight that stretches far beyond Sunday’s vote.
