Manchester City Consider Legal Action Over Haaland Claims

Manchester City are weighing up legal action after a Real Madrid presidential candidate publicly vowed to sign Erling Haaland and unveiled a Madrid shirt with the striker’s name on it.

Enrique Riquelme, a 37-year-old renewable energy tycoon bidding to unseat Florentino Perez, appeared on Spanish television on Wednesday and held up the customised shirt as a campaign prop. He then went a step further.

“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 reaction was immediate and fierce.

Haaland’s camp – his father and his agent – issued a joint denial, which Manchester City swiftly backed and amplified. The language left no room for ambiguity.

“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.”

City, famously guarded over contractual details and image rights, were incensed not only by the claim of a release clause but by the public use of their star striker’s name and image in an election battle almost 1,000 miles away. For a club that has built its modern era around tight control and legal muscle, the threat of action is no idle warning.

Riquelme, though, did not stop at Haaland.

He also promised to bring in City’s midfield lynchpin Rodri, openly talking up the Spain international as a cornerstone of his vision for a rebuilt Madrid side.

“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 either. Rodri is central to City’s structure on the pitch and central to their plans off it. To hear a would-be Real Madrid president speak so casually about conversations with his agent adds another layer of tension to an already fraught relationship between two European superpowers.

All of this plays out against a rare moment of vulnerability at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Riquelme has forced a contested presidential election – the first time in 20 years that Perez has faced a challenger. His campaign is built on a mix of populist pledges and big names, aimed squarely at a fanbase frustrated by two seasons without a major trophy.

He has promised sweeping giveaways: a “members’ city” for Madridistas around the club’s training base, and up to a 50% reduction in membership fees if the team fail to win the Champions League next season. It is a bold pitch to a restless electorate.

The battle extends to the dugout.

Perez has moved to bring Jose Mourinho back to the club, an appointment that can only be rubber-stamped if he wins the election. Riquelme is openly against that plan and has floated a different vision, hinting that former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is the preferred choice for his team.

When asked about Klopp in an interview with The Athletic last month, Riquelme said: “Naturally, I would love for profiles of that calibre, and others like them, to coach this club.”

The message is clear: vote for change, get a new era – with superstar signings and a marquee manager.

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 fresh mandate after a period of on-field unrest and open discontent in the stands.

Perez remains the overwhelming favourite. His record, his control of the club’s machinery, and his status in Madrid’s modern history still carry enormous weight.

Yet in the final days of the campaign, the image that lingers is not of trophies or stadiums, but of a challenger holding up a white shirt with “Haaland” on the back – and a European rival threatening to take the fight from the ballot box to the courtroom.