Manchester City Threatens Legal Action Over Riquelme's Haaland Claims
Manchester City are weighing up legal action against Real Madrid presidential hopeful Enrique Riquelme after an extraordinary TV stunt in Spain dragged Erling Haaland and Rodri into the middle of an election campaign.
Riquelme, who will challenge Florentino Pérez in Sunday’s vote, appeared on the popular show El Hormiguero holding up a Real Madrid shirt with Haaland’s name on the back. He then claimed that a clause in the striker’s contract would allow Madrid to sign him if he wins the presidency.
“Haaland has a release clause and he wants to come to Madrid,” Riquelme declared, turning a light-entertainment slot into a political pitch built on one of the most coveted centre-forwards in world football.
City did not take long to bite back.
City hit back over Haaland claims
On Thursday, the Premier League champions issued a sharply worded statement dismissing the story and threatening legal action over the use of Haaland’s image.
“The stories which have emerged from Spain regarding the future of Erling Haaland are untrue. 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 club said.
The response was immediate, emphatic and left little room for interpretation. For City, this was not just idle transfer gossip; this was a presidential candidate in another country publicly parading one of their stars as a campaign promise.
Haaland’s camp quickly aligned with City’s stance. His father, Alfie, and his agent, Rafaela Pimenta, issued a joint denial of Riquelme’s claims.
“All very entertaining but not true,” they said, before adding a diplomatic line: “We wish all the best for both candidates in the Real Madrid elections.”
The timing of Riquelme’s comments added another layer. Haaland only agreed a record nine-and-a-half-year deal with City in January 2025, a contract designed to shut down precisely this kind of speculation and plant the Norwegian firmly at the heart of the club’s long-term project.
Rodri pulled into Madrid election battle
Haaland was not the only City pillar drafted into Riquelme’s manifesto. The Spanish businessman also promised that Rodri, the Ballon d’Or-winning midfielder and the metronome of City’s recent dominance, would leave Manchester for the 15-time European champions if he takes power at the Bernabéu.
“Rodri is a top player, a Ballon d’Or winner in a position where Madrid needs to strengthen. If I become president, Rodri will play for Real Madrid, with all due respect to City,” Riquelme said.
He then attempted to reinforce his credibility with an extraordinary financial pledge aimed at Madrid’s membership.
“I don’t have the track record of Florentino – I’ve never been president. That’s why I’m committing myself to the two players I’ve announced, backed by a personal notarised guarantee. If I fail to deliver, I will pay 100% of the annual dues of Madrid’s 100,000 members.”
It was the kind of grandiose promise that can electrify an election debate, but one that instantly put City and two of their most important players at the centre of a political contest in another dressing room.
Rodri, for his part, has kept his public tone measured. The 29-year-old, whose contract runs out next summer, admitted this week that the future might have looked different in other circumstances.
“I’m very calm, I know exactly where I stand, and I’ll tell you that perhaps if there hadn’t been a World Cup, things might be different,” he said on Monday.
Those words came against the backdrop of Pep Guardiola’s impending departure after a decade that reshaped City and English football. The end of such an era inevitably forces players to reflect on their next steps. Riquelme has tried to turn that uncertainty into an electoral weapon.
Transfer market tension as Anderson bid rebuffed
While fighting fires in Spain, City are also pushing ahead with their own squad planning.
The club have seen an opening bid for Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson rejected. Forest’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, is understood to value the 23-year-old around the £100m mark – the same figure City paid Aston Villa for Jack Grealish in August 2021, still the club’s record fee.
Hugo Viana, City’s sporting director, is expected to return with an improved offer as they test Forest’s resolve. Anderson’s price tag reflects not only his club importance but also his growing status on the international stage.
The midfielder is in line to start for England in their opening World Cup match against Croatia on 17 June, a platform that could send his valuation climbing even higher if he delivers.
So City find themselves in a familiar modern reality: defending their stars from political theatre in Madrid while trying to prise a rising talent from a Premier League rival. One club, two fronts, and a summer that already feels like it will define the next phase of their post-Guardiola era.
