Manchester City Consider Legal Action Over Haaland's Image Claims

Manchester City are preparing to fight back – not in a title race, but in a courtroom.

The Premier League champions are considering legal action against Enrique Riquelme after the Real Madrid presidential candidate used Erling Haaland’s image and name on Spanish television and claimed he could prise the striker away from the Etihad with a contract clause.

Riquelme appeared on the popular show El Hormiguero holding up a Real Madrid shirt emblazoned with Haaland’s name and number, before confidently stating that the Norwegian has a release clause and wants to move to the Bernabéu if Riquelme wins Sunday’s election.

“Haaland has a release clause and he wants to come to Madrid,” Riquelme said, presenting the transfer as a central pillar of his challenge to the long‑standing president, Florentino Pérez. He went further, promising that Rodri would also leave City for the 15‑time European champions.

The claims detonated quickly in Manchester.

Within 24 hours, City issued a sharp rebuttal. “The stories which have emerged from Spain regarding the future of Erling Haaland are untrue,” the club said on Thursday. “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.”

No ambiguity. No room for interpretation. City wanted the message out: their star striker is not election campaign material.

Haaland’s camp moved just as swiftly. His father, Alfie, and his agent, Rafaela Pimenta, dismissed Riquelme’s narrative with a single, clipped statement. “All very entertaining but not true,” they said, adding a polite coda: “We wish all the best for both candidates in the Real Madrid elections.”

If Riquelme felt the first wave of pushback, he did not retreat. He doubled down on Rodri.

“He’s a top player, a Ballon d’Or winner in a position where Madrid needs to strengthen,” Riquelme said. “If I become president, Rodri will play for Real Madrid, with all due respect to City.”

It is an audacious pledge. Rodri is the heartbeat of City’s midfield, the man around whom Pep Guardiola built a side that dominated English and European football. Yet Riquelme framed his promises as a personal guarantee to Madrid’s fanbase.

“I don’t have the track record of Florentino – I’ve never been president,” he admitted. “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.”

Election rhetoric rarely comes cheap in Madrid. This, though, takes it to a different level: a businessman effectively wagering a vast sum on his ability to sign two of City’s most valuable assets.

There is a sliver of footballing context behind the noise. Guardiola’s departure after a decade of extraordinary success inevitably casts a shadow over City’s long‑term project. Big players reassess when the architect leaves.

On Monday, Rodri acknowledged the shifting landscape, if only slightly. “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,” the 29‑year‑old said. His contract runs out next summer, a fact that will not be lost on any presidential hopeful looking for a headline.

For now, though, the only concrete moves involving City lie elsewhere on the pitch.

The club have seen an opening bid for Elliot Anderson rejected by Nottingham Forest. City’s sporting director, Hugo Viana, is expected to return with an improved offer, but Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is understood to value the 23‑year‑old at around £100m – the same figure City paid Aston Villa for Jack Grealish in August 2021.

It is a striking valuation for a player still at the start of his top‑level career, yet Anderson’s stock is rising fast. He is in line to start in England’s opening World Cup game against Croatia on 17 June, a stage that could push his price even higher.

So City find themselves in a curious moment. On one front, they are weighing up legal options to protect Haaland’s image and shut down talk of a release clause that, they insist, does not exist. On another, they are trying to outmanoeuvre Forest for one of England’s most promising midfielders, while the future of their current midfield general, Rodri, becomes a political bargaining chip in Madrid’s presidential race.

The trophies may be decided on the pitch, but this summer, some of City’s most important battles will be fought in boardrooms, law offices and television studios – with their biggest names at the centre of it all.