Enrique Riquelme has named Raúl González Blanco as his sporting director for Real Madrid — if he ever gets the keys to the club. The presidential candidate confirmed the appointment to MARCA, framing it as a return to the values Florentino Pérez has apparently abandoned.
"He is the right person to lead a sports project like the one coming to Real Madrid," Riquelme said. "If I am president, Raúl will be the sports director of Real Madrid."
The logic isn't hard to follow. Raúl: 740-plus appearances, 16 seasons, over 300 goals, more than 100 international caps. No living figure is more synonymous with what Real Madrid is supposed to stand for. Appointing him isn't just a football decision — it's a message to the club's membership that the identity Pérez has slowly eroded is coming back.
The wider project is taking shape
Raúl is only part of it. Riquelme has already dangled Rodri's name as a potential signing — "a player like Rodri will play for Real Madrid" — and confirmed he's spoken to the Manchester City midfielder's representative. He says a second foreign signing will be announced Wednesday, with his preferred manager named shortly after.
He was pushed on Mikel Arteta. He didn't bite. "He's a great coach. He's had a great season with Arsenal, but there are other great coaches." On Mourinho: "A great coach who had his moment at Real Madrid, but he is not what is needed right now." Blunt, and probably accurate on both counts.
Whether any of this actually happens is a different question. Riquelme isn't president. Pérez remains firmly in place. Presidential campaigns at big Spanish clubs are as much political theatre as they are sporting roadmaps, and announcing Raúl and teasing Rodri is exactly the kind of move designed to shift sentiment among socios rather than shift transfer funds.
The privatisation fight underneath it all
Still, Riquelme's central argument goes beyond personnel. He's positioned his entire campaign around blocking what he calls the creeping privatisation of the club — claiming Pérez is moving to open the statutes for a sale of Real Madrid's ownership structure.
"I have presented myself to stop the sale of the club. It was my first red line," he said.
That's the kind of issue that actually moves members. Flashy signings get attention, but threatening the soul of a members-owned institution? That gets votes. Riquelme knows the pitch: Pérez wants Apple glasses and vague promises. He's offering Raúl, Rodri, and a fight to keep the club in members' hands.
Whether it's enough — and whether any of the names materialise — depends entirely on an election that isn't won yet.
