Manchester City Consider Legal Action Over Haaland and Rodri Claims
Manchester City are weighing up legal action after Real Madrid presidential candidate Enrique Riquelme dragged Erling Haaland and Rodri into his election campaign with a prime-time TV stunt.
Riquelme appeared on Spanish show El Hormiguero holding up a Real Madrid shirt emblazoned with Haaland’s name, before claiming a clause in the striker’s contract would allow him to take the Norwegian to the Bernabéu if he wins Sunday’s vote.
He did not stop there. The businessman also pledged that Rodri would swap Manchester for Madrid, presenting both players as centrepieces of his challenge to long‑standing president Florentino Pérez.
City hit back over Haaland claims
Riquelme told viewers that Haaland, who signed a record nine-and-a-half-year deal with City in January 2025, “has a release clause and he wants to come to Madrid”. It was the kind of soundbite designed to electrify a campaign – and infuriate a club.
City’s response on Thursday was swift and uncompromising.
“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,” the club said.
The message was clear: hands off, and stop using Haaland as political capital.
Haaland’s camp backed City’s stance. His father, Alfie, and his agent, Rafaela Pimenta, dismissed the talk as fiction. “All very entertaining but not true,” they said, adding a pointedly polite coda: “We wish all the best for both candidates in the Real Madrid elections.”
The image of Riquelme brandishing a Madrid shirt with Haaland’s name might have made for compelling television. It has also pushed one of Europe’s most powerful clubs to threaten legal action in the middle of another club’s presidential race.
Rodri dragged into the campaign
Riquelme also put Rodri at the heart of his pitch to Madrid’s socios. The midfielder, a Ballon d’Or winner and the metronome of City’s era of dominance, was presented as a guaranteed signing if Riquelme takes office.
“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,” Riquelme said.
He attempted to bolster his credibility with an extraordinary promise. Acknowledging he does not have Pérez’s track record, Riquelme claimed he would personally underwrite his own transfer pledges.
“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 an eye-catching vow: fail to sign Haaland and Rodri, and cover the membership fees of an entire giant of European football.
Rodri’s future is already a live talking point. Pep Guardiola is leaving City after a decade that has reshaped the club and the Premier League, and any managerial change at that level forces players to reassess their paths.
On Monday, the 29-year-old spoke calmly about his situation. “I’m very calm, I know exactly where I stand, and I’ll tell you that perhaps if there hadn’t been a World Cup, things might be different,” he said. His contract runs out next summer, a timeline that only intensifies speculation.
For now, though, it is Riquelme, not Rodri, pushing the narrative – and City watching closely as their stars are turned into campaign slogans.
Anderson pursuit tests City’s resolve
Away from the noise around Madrid’s elections, City are trying to shape their own future on the pitch.
An initial bid for Elliot Anderson has been rejected by Nottingham Forest. City want the 23-year-old midfielder, and sporting director Hugo Viana is expected to return with an improved offer.
Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is understood to value Anderson at around £100m – the same figure City paid Aston Villa for Jack Grealish in August 2021 and a club-record benchmark that still frames their biggest deals.
It is a steep price, but Anderson’s stock is rising fast. He is in line to start for England in their opening World Cup game against Croatia on 17 June, a stage that can turn a highly rated player into a headline name in a matter of days.
So City stand at a familiar crossroads: defending their current superstars from external promises while preparing a new generation to carry the project forward without Guardiola. How they navigate both battles will shape not just their summer, but the next chapter of their era-defining reign.
