Real Madrid: Riquelme ‘guarantees’ Haaland signing with bombshell shirt reveal and Rodri ‘will sign’ too | OneFootball

In a bold move, Enrique Riquelme held up a Real Madrid shirt with Erling Haaland’s name on the back as he announced the Norwegian’s signing if he wins the Real Madrid presidential election.

Riquelme is going head to head with incumbent president Florentino Perez in the election, which is set to be held on Sunday, and appeared on popular TV show ‘El Hormiguero’ on Wednesday to curry favour with the 95,000 registered members, who will cast their votes to decide the club’s next president for the first time since 2006.

In a social media post on Wednesday night, Pérez’s campaign confirmed that Jose Mourinho, who previously managed Madrid between 2010 and 2013, will return as coach if Pérez wins Sunday’s vote.

“Real Madrid fans should trust me. I promise you that we will have a very strong team,” Perez told AS. “I will sign players and will strenghten every position.”

Ibrahima Konate has already been confirmed as joining as a free agent after his Liverpool contract expired, while Real Madrid have also triggered Denzel Dumfries’ €20m release clause to land him from Inter Milan.

Perez also confirmed that all three of Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior “will stay” at the Bernabeu amid claims at least one would leave this summer. “They are players that every big club in the world would want,” Perez said.

While a brief video showing a smiling Mourinho in a Real Madrid shirt saying “yes” was posted by Perez’s team on social media, Riquelme confirmed that the Portuguese boss would not be his manager if he wins the election.

“He’s a good coach, but his style is totally different from what we’re looking for in our project,” Riquelme said.

“We don’t like him for our project. I have another coach. We have a coach, but the arrival of Raúl [as sporting director] and [Fernando] Hierro [as academy boss] is demonstrating the hierarchy of their professionalism.

“They are from Real Madrid, and if they’re here, they won’t let anyone harm the club.”

Last week, Riquelme told ESPN that Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, who has a year remaining on his Man City contract, is “the kind of player who should play for Real Madrid.”

“He’s a great player, in a position where Madrid need to strengthen,” he added on Wednesday. “We’ve spoken to his agent, we have to respect his club, but if I’m president he’ll play for Madrid. I’ll do everything possible.”

And he doubled down on Wednesday night, further insisting that Haaland would follow his Manchester City teammate to the Bernabeu and that he would pay members’ membership costs if he failed to sign the pair.

“Erling Haaland and Rodri will be my star signings if I become president,” Riquelme said on the show El Hormiguero.

“If I break my promises regarding either of these players, I’ve signed a guarantee where I’d pay 100% of membership costs for next season. Haaland has a release clause, and he wants to come to Madrid.”

Haaland claim immediately refuted

Haaland signed a very lucrative contract with Manchester City in January 2025 through to 2034 and that deal is reported to have removed any buyout clauses in the contract he signed when he arrived from Borussia Dortmund in 2022.

And in a joint statement following Riquelme’s bombshell claim, the Norway striker’s father, Alfie Haaland, and his agent, Rafaela Pimenta, denied any agreement: ‘All very entertaining but not true. We wish all the best for both candidates in the Madrid elections’.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano wrote on X: ‘Manchester City are completely relaxed about Erling Haaland immediate future, not expecting his exit at all this summer. City see Haaland staying and did not get any exit indication from the player, key part of the project also under Maresca.’