Florentino Pérez vows new stars and dismisses Enrique Riquelme in Real Madrid campaign | OneFootball

Florentino Pérez intensified his re-election campaign on Monday in Toledo, attacking Enrique Riquelme and defending a plan to sell a small stake to safeguard member ownership. He also signalled further high-profile signings ahead of Sunday’s vote.

According to El Periódico Mediterráneo, the Real Madrid president, who launched his candidacy at a landmark Madrid hotel, met members and supporters’ clubs at a luxury estate outside the city.

In a speech of around 20 minutes, Pérez underlined what he sees as strong sporting and financial results, cast himself as the guardian of member control, and repeatedly referred to Riquelme only as the candidate.

He said the club would create a company, keep 95 per cent, and admit a minority investor without decision-making power. Members would continue to elect the president, with a board and members’ assembly, on a one-member-one-vote basis. He framed a sale of five per cent as a way to ensure the club never has another owner.

Pérez argued that, having once guaranteed 25,000 million pesetas to cover salaries, he would not sell or privatise the institution, adding that members alone will decide Real Madrid’s future. He accused Riquelme of lying and of inheriting the presidency of Ramón Calderón, which he described as the club’s bleakest period.

On squad planning, he said detail would follow in the coming days and that new stars would arrive for the next season, insisting Madrid should always field the best. He also displayed a large banner in central Madrid listing leading signings from his two decades in charge, and criticised Riquelme’s proposals as dated, soft on the Negreira case and echoing critics of the Bernabéu redevelopment, alleging a bid for notoriety at the club’s expense.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo