Manchester City are considering taking legal action after a candidate in Real Madrid’s presidential election made a public promise to sign striker Erling Haaland.
Enrique Riquelme, a renewable energy magnate challenging current president Florentino Perez, unveiled a Real Madrid shirt bearing Haaland’s name during a television appearance on Wednesday.
Riquelme made the bold claim live on air, stating: “He has a release clause and would like to join Real Madrid.”
The comments immediately sparked a furious response from those closest to the Norwegian striker, with a joint denial issued swiftly by Haaland’s father and agent.
Manchester City then moved to publicly rubbish the suggestion themselves, releasing a strongly worded statement rejecting the claims in their entirety.
“The stories which have emerged from Spain regarding the future of Erling Haaland are untrue,” the statement read, leaving no room for ambiguity on the matter.
City went further, directly addressing the question of any contractual mechanism that could allow such a transfer to happen.
“There is no chance of this happening and there is no contractual clause to enable it,” the club confirmed, flatly contradicting Riquelme’s televised assertions.
The club also warned that the use of their player’s image in this context could have serious legal consequences for Riquelme and his campaign.
“We are considering legal action for the use of our player image in this context,” City stated, signalling their intention to pursue the matter formally if necessary.
Riquelme is positioning himself as a challenger to the long-serving Florentino Perez in the Real Madrid presidential race, and has used high-profile statements to generate attention for his campaign.
The incident raises significant questions about the boundaries of political campaigning within football clubs and the use of players’ likenesses without consent.
Haaland has established himself as one of the world’s most sought-after forwards during his time at the Etihad, and speculation about his future regularly surfaces in the European press.
However, both the player’s representatives and his club have now made their position entirely clear, and the prospect of legal proceedings adds a significant new dimension to this story.
