‘The right person to lead a sports project’ – Enrique Riquelme announces Real Madrid legend as his sporting director | OneFootball

Enrique Riquelme’s idea for getting to Real Madrid’s presidency is simple: expose the flaws of Florentino Perez’s time at the club to earn support, then make a case with big-name signings.

At a time when the club is at an all-time low, club members are frustrated with the situation and Riquelme sees it as the right time to serve Perez and Co. a blow.

He has already promised to sign a player like Rodri and is gradually releasing further star names from his project.

As confirmed by him in previous interviews, he has another big player signing, a top managerial candidate and a sporting director in mind.

Riquelme announces his sporting director

The Real Madrid presidential candidate spoke to the media via MARCA and was asked to reveal some more details about his project. He went on to reveal that he had already finalised the appointment in advance.

Raul has been approached by Riquelme. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images for Tag Heuer)

“Yes, I already have it closed. He is Spanish. For this project and in the situation in which the club is, we have to return to those values, to that Real Madridism, to the DNA,” he began.

“It has to be a Real Madrid legend, accompanied by great professionals, someone who has played in Real Madrid more than 740 games, 16 seasons, more than 300 goals, and has played more than 100 times internationally.

“No one knows the club better. And that is the person we have decided,” he added, teasing the announcement.

Riquelme then finally announced the name of his sporting director, saying,

“He is the right person to lead a sports project like the one coming to Real Madrid. It’s Raúl González Blanco. If I am president, Raúl will be the sports director of Real Madrid.”

Explaining how he convinced Raul to be a part of his project, Florentino Perez’s opponent said,

“I had to explain the project, what we expected from him and what we thought he could contribute.”

“There is no other person more suitable for that position than him. In addition, several Real Madrid legends will be part of the project,” he added.

On his preferred manager and players

Rodri is Riquelme’s target for Real Madrid. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

The aspiring club president was then asked about Rodri and whether he truly saw it as possible to sign the Manchester City midfielder.

“He is a great football player, Ballon d’Or, Madrid, and I love a player like Rodri for Real Madrid. If I am president, a player like Rodri will play for Real Madrid.

“But I’m not president yet and he has a contract with his club and we have to respect him.”

“I have had contact with his representative. He is one of the two names that we have worked on and that we will give in the coming days,” he added.

Regarding his second big player signing, Riquelme only provided a clue and nothing more.

“This is a foreigner, and I would like to announce it on Wednesday.”

He was then asked about the managerial situation and whether he had a clear name in mind to coach the team should he be elected president.

“Yes, I already have one. My idea is to give names all week. Every day brings new surprises from great professionals, some of them great Madrid fans who will be added.

“I will give the name after the other player, after Wednesday.”

When prompted if it was Mikel Arteta, Riquelme modestly said,

“He’s a great coach. He has had a great season with Arsenal, but there are other great coaches.”

What he did make clear, however, is that he does not rate Jose Mourinho’s return as the right move at this point.

“A great coach, who had his moment at Real Madrid, but he is not what is needed right now.”

On the privatisation of the club

Enrique Riquelme shared his views on several matters related to Real Madrid. (Picture credit: Instagram/@enriqueriquelmev)

Finally, the presidential candidate was asked about Florentino Perez’s efforts to privatise part of the club’s ownership and made a strong case for it.

“I don’t even know if I would run in the future. This time I have presented myself to stop the sale of the club. It was my first red line.”

“If there was any doubt for anyone, yesterday, in El País, it was clear that they are going to open the Statutes for the sale of the club,” he added.

Asking Perez for solid promises in his presidency rather than beating around the bush with unnecessary developments, Riquelme said,

“There have only been three promises from candidate Don Florentino Pérez,” he began.

“There have only been three proposals from candidate Florentino Pérez. What we know for sure is that he’s going to sell the club.

“Next, he says we need to buy €4,500 Apple glasses so members can watch soccer at home, and the other thing is that he just talks and talks and talks about me.”

“I don’t want to be the focus of his campaign – let him propose plans for the social, sporting, and financial aspects, and I’ll think that’s perfect. I would have loved to debate, but he doesn’t want to.”