‘Fantastic player’: Real Madrid presidential candidate discusses his project, hints at move for Man City ace | OneFootball

Just over a week remains before Real Madrid officially begins the polling process to decide their next club president, and it will be a historic day as it will mark the club’s first presidential election since 2006.

Florentino Perez is the firm favourite to win and continue his reign, but he has a young and enthusiastic competitor in Enrique Riquelme threatening to capture his position.

The latter has been explosive in his campaign so far, reminding members of the flaws in Perez’s approach and promising a world of change – both in an administrative and sporting sense.

Riquelme reveals his favoured signing

Speaking to ESPN in a recent interview, the presidential candidate named Ballon d’Or winner Rodri as a player he deeply admires who he sees as a player who should be defending the Real Madrid crest.

“Rodri is the type of player that should be playing for Real Madrid,” he began.

Rodri could arrive at Real Madrid. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

“Obviously, right now, he’s at another club and we have to respect that. But we’ll talk about that from Saturday onwards,” he added.

Reaffirming his belief in the Manchester City star, he said,

“I love Rodri. He’s a fantastic player and he’s the profile of player Real Madrid should have, and who should be playing for the club.”

On his upcoming announcements

Riquelme then officially announced the day when he will begin revealing more specifics of his project at the club, saying,

“Starting this Saturday, we will begin revealing our football project. We will reveal names.”

Riquelme has big plans for Real Madrid. (Picture credit: Instagram/@enriqueriquelmev)

Speaking on the players he has agreements with to arrive as marquee signings if he wins, the presidential candidate said,

“Some of the players I have agreements with are game-changers, without a doubt. People should pay attention because they are going to please and excite the fans.”

Florentino Perez’s rival then announced that he also has a manager already signed for his project and hinted that it was an individual with a lot of experience.

“I have a coach signed for Real Madrid. Country of origin? Let’s not talk about nationality, let’s talk about experience.”

“We’re not going to experiment. We will bring in a proven coach and technical staff, who have never coached Real Madrid before, and I’m sure Real Madrid will be very excited to have them here,” he added.