Manchester City Considers Legal Action Over Haaland Claims
Manchester City are preparing to fight on an unfamiliar front – not on the pitch, but in the courts.
The Premier League champions are considering legal action against Enrique Riquelme after the Real Madrid presidential candidate brandished a Madrid shirt with Erling Haaland’s name on it during a television appearance and claimed a clause in the striker’s contract would allow him to take the Norwegian to the Bernabéu if elected.
City hit back over Haaland claims
Riquelme, who is challenging Florentino Pérez in Sunday’s presidential elections, used a spot on the Spanish show El Hormiguero on Wednesday to make Haaland the centrepiece of his campaign pitch. He insisted the forward, who signed a record nine-and-a-half-year deal with City in January 2025, wanted to join Madrid.
“Haaland has a release clause and he wants to come to Madrid,” Riquelme said, holding up the shirt as a prop and, in City’s view, crossing a line.
The response from Manchester arrived with force 24 hours later. In a sharply worded statement on Thursday, the club dismissed the story out of Spain in its entirety.
“The stories which have emerged from Spain regarding the future of Erling Haaland are untrue. There is no chance of this happening and there is no contractual clause to enable it. We are considering legal action for the use of our player image in this context.”
No ambiguity. No room left for interpretation.
Haaland’s camp quickly aligned with the club. His father, Alfie, and his agent, Rafaela Pimenta, issued their own rebuttal.
“All very entertaining but not true,” they said, while adding a courteous nod to Madrid’s internal politics: “We wish all the best for both candidates in the Real Madrid elections.”
The message was clear – Haaland is not a campaign promise.
Rodri dragged into election battle
Riquelme did not stop at Haaland. He also pulled Rodri into the electoral theatre, promising that the midfielder would swap Manchester for Madrid if he wins the vote.
“Regarding Rodri,” Riquelme said, “he’s a top player, a Ballon d’Or winner in a position where Madrid needs to strengthen. If I become president, Rodri will play for Real Madrid, with all due respect to City.”
For a challenger without the institutional weight of Pérez, Riquelme has turned to grand gestures. He has framed his campaign around these marquee pledges, even claiming to have put his own money on the line.
“I don’t have the track record of Florentino – I’ve never been president. That’s why I’m committing myself to the two players I’ve announced, backed by a personal notarised guarantee. If I fail to deliver, I will pay 100% of the annual dues of Madrid’s 100,000 members.”
It is dramatic politics, even by Real Madrid standards: two of City’s pillars used as leverage in a presidential race, their names traded like electoral currency.
Rodri, for his part, has offered only a measured glimpse into his thinking. The departure of Pep Guardiola after a decade of unprecedented success inevitably raises questions over the future of key players, and the 29-year-old did little to quiet speculation when he spoke on Monday.
“I’m very calm, I know exactly where I stand,” he said, before adding a line that will interest every elite club in Europe. “I’ll tell you that perhaps if there hadn’t been a World Cup, things might be different.”
His contract runs out next summer. The clock is ticking, but City are adamant that the timing will not be dictated by a presidential hopeful in Madrid.
Off the pitch, another battle: Elliot Anderson
While the Haaland and Rodri noise rumbled in Spain, City’s recruitment team were at work closer to home.
The club have seen an opening bid for Elliot Anderson rejected by Nottingham Forest. Sporting director Hugo Viana is expected to return with an improved offer, but Forest’s stance is already clear: they value the 23-year-old at around £100m, the same figure City paid Aston Villa for Jack Grealish in August 2021.
That valuation underlines how highly Forest regard Anderson and how steep the market has become for young, homegrown talent with international pedigree.
Anderson is set to start for England in their opening World Cup match against Croatia on 17 June. If he shines on that stage, Forest’s price will look less like a barrier and more like a starting point.
City, meanwhile, find themselves in a curious moment: one eye on a possible courtroom dispute over a superstar they insist is going nowhere, another on a rising international they may have to break their own transfer record to sign.
Guardiola is on his way out. Europe’s giants are circling their best players. Presidential hopefuls in Madrid are using City’s stars as campaign posters. The next few months will show whether the champions can keep control of their future, or whether the noise around them starts to dictate the agenda.
