{"id":1703,"date":"2026-05-26T18:21:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/?p=1703"},"modified":"2026-05-26T18:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:21:10","slug":"we-have-signed-two-international-stars-riquelme-lays-down-real-madrid-election-gauntlet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/26\/we-have-signed-two-international-stars-riquelme-lays-down-real-madrid-election-gauntlet\/","title":{"rendered":"“We have signed two international stars”: Riquelme lays down Real Madrid election gauntlet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Real Madrid presidential hopeful Enrique Riquelme has claimed he has already secured the signatures of two world-class talents should he succeed in his bid to lead the club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The battle for the Real Madrid presidency has officially ignited. Enrique Riquelme, the man aiming to topple Florentino Perez, is making an early power play in his campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with ‘ABC’, the Grupo COX chief executive outlined his ambitious vision: “We have secured two international stars and we will be announcing them. These are two elite talents who will represent Real Madrid.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I cannot comment on whether the Madrid dressing room has become toxic as I am not inside it,” he admitted. “While friction is often cited as normal, what is unacceptable is that it becomes public knowledge. The leak itself isn’t the primary concern; the real issue is that things have reached a point where such behaviour is viewed as normal. In a professional club staffed by the right personnel, underpinned by hierarchy and respect, this simply should not happen,” he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the name of Jose Mourinho was raised, Riquelme was measured: “He is a magnificent coach who has enjoyed immense success, though his man-management style is certainly unique. That can be a blessing or a curse depending on the club. However, I am firm in my belief that Real Madrid requires a long-term vision, not a temporary fix. Should I be elected president, we will assess the situation, but our focus remains on building a sustainable project.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Appointing Xabi Alonso was a masterstroke, and allowing him to depart was a failure, but you cannot build a project in three months. I believe the supporters are frustrated by the methods, the timing, and the fact that he lacked the necessary authority to manage the squad,” he clarified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning his attention to potential managerial targets, Jurgen Klopp was mentioned: “I am a huge admirer of his. He is a world-class manager, though there are others who also interest me. Of course, Klopp is currently committed to his role with Red Bull, but he is undoubtedly the type of profile I would love to see leading Real Madrid.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Real Madrid cannot afford to be a testing ground for managers. Arbeloa was arguably an experiment. When I state that the best must be recruited, I mean the best in every position. He may go on to be the best coach in the world, and I wish him well as a legendary Madrid player, but I believe the club needs, at this juncture, world-class managers who command absolute respect,” he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Real Madrid presidential hopeful Enrique Riquelme has claimed he has already secured the signatures of two world-class talents<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1704,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1703"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1705,"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703\/revisions\/1705"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}