Real Madrid president-elect Riquelme doubles down on Haaland’s claims and says he has met the Manchester City striker

Real Madrid president-elect Enrique Riquelme has reiterated his claim that Erling Haaland has a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave Manchester City, and says he has met with the Norwegian to discuss a move to the Santiago Bernabeu.

Riquelme, who competes with Florentino Perez in Sunday’s election, first said he would sign Haaland last night on the TV program El Hormiguero, and even held up a Madrid shirt with his name on the back, an action that caused the player’s agent and his father to immediately refuse, as well as City itself, which also threatened legal action.

Instead of changing his stance, Riquelme, 37, continued in an interview with Spanish daily AS today and said he is putting his name to fulfilling his promise that both Haaland and his City teammate Rodri move to Madrid.

He said: “I understand that his camp has to protect the player, and his team. It seems normal to me. But I am very happy to be able to announce that great people like Haaland, if I am president, will play for Real Madrid.

“Apart from me, what guarantees Haaland is Real Madrid. The players want to come and play with the best in the world if given the right conditions. Real Madrid competes with the biggest clubs in the world, they can win titles again, but no team has the history of Madrid.”

Riquelme will shell out £13m if he fails to sign Haaland or Rodri

Riquelme vowed to pay the club’s membership fees next year if he is elected and fails to bring Haaland and Rodri to Madrid. The cost of that is reported to be in the region of €15 million (£13m).

He continued: “I will not be able to give many details, because the aim is not to put people in a critical situation, what I am saying is that I see it as a normal thing in the group. [City] to protect the player.

“What I am saying is that I am sure that I will not risk my professional or personal reputation, at 37 years of age, by not doing this.

“I have already said that if I fail to sign one of these two [players] I will personally pay all the fees for 100,000 members. I think it is clear that I will make these two players play for Real Madrid.”

Riquelme says he met with Haaland to discuss a move to Real Madrid

Asked if he had discussed his proposal with Haaland, who has scored 162 goals in 198 appearances for City since joining Borussia Dortmund in 2022, Riquelme added: “It’s between us… but yes, I was with him recently.

“You have to respect the player but I wouldn’t risk not only my property, but my credibility by signing an impossibility.

“If I am president, Rodri and Haaland will play for Real Madrid. I will do that.”

Haaland signed a 10-year contract with City last year and there is no indication that he is interested in moving to Spain. His agent Rafaela Pimenta and father Alfie said in a joint statement last night: “Everything is very exciting but not true. We wish the best to both candidates in the Madrid elections.”

City also disputed Riquelme’s claim that Haaland had a clause in his contract that allowed him to leave the Etihad.

The club’s statement this morning reads as follows: “The news from Spain about the future of Erling Haaland is not true.

“There is no chance of this happening and there is no clause in the contract that allows it to happen.

“We are considering legal action for the use of our player image in this context.”

Denial is part of the game, says the Real Madrid prospect

Riquelme laughed off Pimenta and Haaland Snr’s actions, adding: “It’s part of the game. [Luis] Figo [prior to the Portuguese making his controversial move from Barcelona to Madrid]this is part of soccer.

“As I say, you have to protect the player. And Pablo (Barquero), who represents Rodri. In Rodri’s case, I know very well that you have to talk to City later. Rodri’s situation is different from Haaland’s. We have a lot of respect for the club. And from there, [we will] work over here. We have everything so clear and organized that I know very well that, if I am the president of Real Madrid, these two players will play for Real Madrid.”

Riquelme said he was in contact with City this morning about their dissatisfaction.

He said: “It’s an entertainment business, football and this is part of football.

“We have to keep talking, we respect City a lot, but the player has a condition, he has a contract, and on Wednesday we sent a secret message to City. He has a contract termination clause, yes.”