Enrique Riquelme has named Raúl González Blanco as his sporting director if he wins the Real Madrid presidency — 740 appearances, 16 seasons, 300-plus goals, and over 100 international caps. His argument is simple: nobody knows this club better.
"He is the right person to lead a sports project like the one coming to Real Madrid," Riquelme told MARCA. "If I am president, Raúl will be the sports director of Real Madrid."
It's a calculated move. Riquelme's entire campaign is built around identity — returning to what he calls Real Madridism, the club's DNA — and there's no name in modern Madrid history that carries more symbolic weight than Raúl. Whether that translates into executive competence is a different question, but as a statement of intent, it lands.
The Bigger Project Taking Shape
Raúl is just one piece. Riquelme has already teased a signing "like Rodri" — and gone further, confirming he's spoken to the Ballon d'Or winner's representative. "He is one of the two names that we have worked on," he said, promising a second foreign signing to be announced on Wednesday. A managerial name follows after that.
When asked directly about Mikel Arteta, Riquelme neither confirmed nor dismissed him — "He's a great coach... but there are other great coaches." José Mourinho got a cleaner answer: "He is not what is needed right now."
For anyone pricing Real Madrid futures or managerial markets, the honest read here is that Riquelme still has to win an election against Florentino Pérez, who has held the presidency for the better part of two decades. These are campaign promises, not confirmed transfers.
The Privatisation Fight
Beyond signings and staff, Riquelme is drawing a harder line on club ownership. He claims Florentino is moving toward partial privatisation of Real Madrid — pointing to a report in El País as confirmation — and frames his candidacy as a direct intervention to stop it.
"This time I have presented myself to stop the sale of the club. It was my first red line," he said.
His summary of Pérez's campaign platform was blunt: sell the club, make members buy €4,500 Apple glasses to watch games at home, and talk about Riquelme. Whether that framing resonates with socios will decide whether any of this — Raúl, Rodri, the mystery manager — ever leaves the campaign trail.
