Enrique Riquelme's companions at Real Madrid: a misstep that no one wants to take?

MadridThe time for aspirants to preside over Real Madrid to present a candidacy is running out. For now, only the Valencian Enrique Riquelme, president of the energy company Cox, is the one who has raised his hand to take the step, although this Monday he was still "working on it". He has until this Saturday, May 23. He needs 187 million euros of his own patrimonial guarantee (15% of Real Madrid's budget) and to have been a member of the white club for at least 20 years. Requirements that would be in order, according to Riquelme himself has revealed.

But there are still cards to be revealed, such as who will accompany him if he finally decides to present himself to the League. The unknown could be resolved this Thursday, which would be the day Riquelme intends to confirm whether or not he will take the definitive step, according to sports journalist Roberto Gómez has pointed out on Radio Marca. The feeling, however, in the Madrid business orbit –Florentino Pérez is not only president of Madrid, but also of the construction company ACS, one of the crown jewels of the Ibex-35– is that no one will take a false step considering that it would mean confronting one of the most powerful and influential executives in the State. In fact, Riquelme himself shelved the idea of running in the elections in 2021 when, also as a result of an express electoral call, he could not put together a project with a head and eyes. And his father, Enrique Riquelme de la Torre, has been asked about this, and he has limited himself to pointing out that his son "is very young [he is 37 years old]". A reflection that some media have interpreted as advice to leave it for later.

"Nobody [from the business world] will openly confront Florentino [Pérez] [...] He may have problems at Madrid, but I don't see anyone from the business sector standing up for the new [Riquelme]," a business source assures the ARA. The same voice believes that one thing is what is felt in the football world, where "hysteria" reigns, he says, and another is big business. "One thing is the underground battles that may occur, and another is an open struggle for football," he adds. He refers, in this way, to the speculation about whether David Mesonero (Salamanca, 1980) will be part of Riquelme's team. Mesonero is a director at Iberdrola, a company chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán, with whom Florentino has a historic duel marked by ACS's attempt to acquire the electric company. At the same time, Mesonero is Sánchez Galán's son-in-law. The fact that he has entered the running has reopened, precisely, the Pandora's box of this rivalry. Rafa Nadal, a friend of Riquelme, also entered the running, but quickly distanced himself.

The weight of ACS

One of the keys to all of this is the weight of presiding over Real Madrid versus presiding over ACS. There are those who read last week's press conference as a "slip-up" that will hardly overshadow the "prestige" that Florentino Pérez has built around the construction company –he has always surrounded himself with knowledgeable people, but the success has not been shared– or the fact that some still speak of him as Miquel Roca's "trusted man" in Madrid. "Many people live off ACS," summarizes the same voice as before. "The press conference was surprising, but it has little to do with the rational criteria usually used in the business world," adds another executive. Hence the parallel drawn in Madrid with the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Because of all this, some believe that it is a "media projection" that Real Madrid gives to Florentino Pérez.

The truth is that things are not going badly for the construction company: in a short time, ACS has tripled its stock market value and wins digital infrastructure tenders worldwide – this very Monday it approved a capital increase to invest in data centers that has allowed Florentino himself, but also Criteria, to gain weight in the shareholding–. It also has, they say, a "top-level professional team".

The other fronts

"Perhaps Real Madrid's lack of a professional organizational structure, unlike ACS, doesn't help them," reflects one of the consulted voices. The truth is that, setting aside the electoral race, Real Madrid has different open sporting fronts marked by instability on the bench, from the departure of Xabi Alonso and the arrival of Álvaro Arbeloa as coaches, through speculation about Jose Mourinho's return, to squabbles between players, but also due to the fact that they haven't won any titles. To all this is added the cold shower that not being able to, for now, host concerts at the Bernabéu or the paralysis of the parking lot that was to be managed and that was to represent a significant source of income. "When the ball doesn't go in, these things happen," says the same voice as before, referring to everything that has happened since last week's press conference, when instead of talking about Real Madrid's sporting challenges, it attacked the media's "disinformation."