Florentino Pérez raised the tone in Real Madrid's electoral race. In an interview with 'El Español', the Merengue president — and candidate for the elections scheduled for Sunday, June 7 — once again harshly criticized his rival Enrique Riquelme, guaranteeing that he does not believe in his promises and ensuring that he will announce on Thursday the first major reinforcement for 2026/27.
"We will have names before Sunday, calmly. People know me", said Florentino, reinforcing the idea that "the best players will be at Real Madrid". Asked about the market, the White leader added: “On Thursday I will announce the first major reinforcement.” According to 'El Español', the first two targets to close to reinforce the defense will be Ibrahima Konaté and Denzel Dumfries.
The president of Real Madrid also fired a shot at Riquelme, whom he accuses of speaking to players to suggest that they could arrive if he wins the elections. “I don’t believe anything about Riquelme”, he said. And regarding one of the names mentioned by the opponent, he was adamant: “One of the reinforcements said it was Rodri, but logically he hasn’t closed him down.”
When asked about the coach and the possibility of José Mourinho, Florentino simply said: “I will announce it soon.” Regarding Riquelme's announcement that Raúl González would be his sporting director, he replied: “It seems good to me, although I don't know if you spoke to him.”
On an institutional level, the president defended his management model and targeted those who, in his opinion, are trying to “destroy Real Madrid”, citing figures and institutions from other eras. Florentino wants to take a new ownership model to a referendum which, as he explained, values the club at 10 billion dollars (Forbes estimate) and makes this heritage “reach directly to the members”.
Regarding the stadium's finances, he highlighted that the credit for the renovation of the Santiago Bernabéu “has interest rates of less than 3%”, there are “1,000 million to be paid” and that “the stadium pays for itself annually with the revenue it is already generating”. He also guaranteed the return of the big shows — “all the singers want to perform here, even the Pope wants to come” — and left a message: “Whoever messes with the Stadium is disrespectful to Real Madrid, not to me.”
Florentino finally highlighted the ‘Bernabéu Infinito’ project, an immersive experience to watch games as if you were in the stands, through mixed reality technology. Faced with criticism about the price of some devices, he replied: "This will be a global phenomenon and prices will fall. The new revolution in football is technology."