Manchester City Considers Legal Action Over Haaland's Madrid Claims

Manchester City are weighing up legal action after a Real Madrid presidential candidate publicly claimed he would sign Erling Haaland and even produced a Madrid shirt with the striker’s name on the back.

The row erupted when Enrique Riquelme, a renewable energy magnate attempting to unseat Florentino Perez, appeared on television on Wednesday and declared that Haaland “has a release clause and would like to join Real Madrid. If I become president, he will play for Real Madrid.”

He didn’t stop at words. He held up a Real Madrid jersey emblazoned with Haaland’s name, turning a campaign promise into a very public piece of theatre.

City and the Haaland camp hit back hard.

A joint statement from Haaland’s father and agent swiftly rejected the claims, and the Premier League champions then issued a blunt rebuttal of their own.

“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.”

The message was clear: City will not allow one of their stars to be used as a campaign prop in Madrid’s most turbulent election in two decades.

Rodri the next target

Riquelme, 37, has built his challenge on grand promises and big names. Haaland was only the headline act.

He also vowed to sign City’s midfield fulcrum Rodri, describing him as “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.

Again, the message was bold, bordering on provocative: two of Manchester City’s most important players, casually folded into an election manifesto at the Bernabeu.

A rare challenge to Perez

This is not a routine Real Madrid election. For the first time in 20 years, Florentino Perez is not running unopposed.

Riquelme has seized on a period of on-field frustration — two seasons without a major trophy — to question the direction of the club and offer a radically different vision. His campaign has been built on giveaways and grand projects: a proposed “members’ city” for fans around the training base, and a pledge to cut annual membership fees by up to 50% if Madrid fail to win the Champions League next season.

It is populist, ambitious, and designed to hit where it hurts: the pride and pockets of just under 100,000 voting socios.

Perez, who called the election himself in search of a renewed mandate amid discontent in the stands at the Santiago Bernabeu, remains the overwhelming favourite. His record, his influence, and his role in transforming the club’s finances still carry enormous weight.

Yet this time, he has a live opponent — one who is willing to drag Manchester City’s stars and the club’s next coach into the political arena.

Mourinho, Klopp and the battle for the bench

The presidential race is not only about players. It is also about the dugout.

Perez has moved to bring Jose Mourinho back to the club, a decision that can only be formally ratified if he wins the vote. The prospect of a second Mourinho era has split opinion, but it underlines Perez’s preference for a proven, hard-edged figurehead.

Riquelme has positioned himself on the opposite side of that argument. He opposes the Mourinho appointment and has hinted that Jurgen Klopp is his preferred choice to lead Madrid into a new cycle.

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.”

No promises, but a clear signal: under his presidency, Madrid would chase the game’s most coveted coaches as aggressively as its most coveted players.

High stakes on and off the pitch

The vote, scheduled for Sunday, 7 June, now carries implications that stretch well beyond the Bernabeu’s boardroom. Riquelme has dragged City, Haaland and Rodri into the spotlight, testing the limits of what can be said — and shown — in a presidential race.

City’s threat of legal action over the use of Haaland’s image marks a sharp escalation. This is no longer just a Madrid power struggle; it is a clash of football’s modern giants over who controls the narrative around its biggest stars.

On Sunday, Madrid’s members will decide their president. The question now is whether they also decide the next flashpoint in the sport’s battle between political theatre and contractual reality.