Manchester City Consider Legal Action Over Haaland's Madrid 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 claim, made live on Spanish television by Enrique Riquelme, detonated across Europe’s transfer landscape. City moved quickly. So did Haaland’s camp.

Riquelme, a 37-year-old renewable energy magnate bidding to unseat Florentino Perez, declared on air: “He has a release clause and would like to join Real Madrid. If I become president, he will play for Real Madrid.” As he spoke, he unveiled a Real shirt emblazoned with “Haaland” on the back – a stunt that has infuriated the English champions.

Haaland’s father and agent issued a joint denial, flatly rejecting the narrative. City then went a step further, accusing the presidential hopeful of peddling fiction and misusing their player’s image.

“The stories which have emerged from Spain regarding the future of Erling Haaland are untrue,” their 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.”

The message was unmistakable: hands off.

Riquelme did not stop at Haaland. He also promised to prise Rodri away from the Etihad, openly identifying the midfielder as a cornerstone of his electoral vision.

“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 drag another City pillar into the political theatre of a Real Madrid election that, for the first time in two decades, Perez enters with a challenger.

The backdrop is unusually tense. Real have gone two seasons without a major trophy, an eternity by the club’s standards. Discontent has bubbled in the stands at the Santiago Bernabeu, and Perez himself called this election, seeking a fresh mandate to push through his next cycle.

Riquelme has sensed an opening and built his campaign on grand gestures and giveaways. He has pledged to construct a “members’ city” for supporters around the training base, a physical monument to the club’s socios. He has also promised to slash annual membership fees by up to 50% if Madrid fail to win the Champions League next season – a populist pitch aimed squarely at a restless fanbase.

His sporting vision diverges sharply from Perez’s on the touchline as well. Perez has moved to bring Jose Mourinho back to the Bernabeu, but that appointment only becomes official if the incumbent wins. Riquelme has made clear he wants a different profile.

He and his team have repeatedly hinted that Jurgen Klopp sits at the top of their wishlist. In an interview with The Athletic last month, Riquelme stopped short of naming the former Liverpool manager as his choice, yet left little doubt about the calibre he is chasing.

“Naturally, I would love for profiles of that calibre, and others like them, to coach this club,” he said.

It all feeds into a striking picture: a challenger promising Haaland, Rodri and potentially Klopp, while questioning Mourinho and dangling financial benefits in front of the membership.

Just under 100,000 Real Madrid socios are eligible to vote when the club goes to the polls on Sunday, 7 June. Perez remains the overwhelming favourite, his long rule and institutional power weighing heavily over the contest.

But in trying to shake that dominance, Riquelme has taken aim at Manchester City’s core and triggered a furious response from the Premier League champions. If this is how the campaign is being fought, what happens if he actually wins?