Florentino Perez Confirms Record Signing for Real Madrid

Florentino Perez has never been one to duck a fight. On a tense night on television programme Horizonte, with Real Madrid’s presidential race crackling in the background, the long-serving president walked straight into the storm and lit a bigger fuse: a record-breaking signing is coming, and it will not be Erling Haaland or Harry Kane.

“It’s not Haaland or Kane”

The rumours have circled Madrid for months. Haaland, the goal machine. Kane, the proven finisher. Both endlessly linked, both painted as centrepieces of the club’s next galáctico chapter.

Perez cut that narrative down in a single line.

"It's not Erling Haaland or Harry Kane," he said, flatly dismissing the speculation that has dominated back pages across Europe.

Instead, he revealed that Madrid are closing in on a different kind of bombshell. A deal, he said, for a player valued at €150 million, with an announcement expected next week. Not a vague hint. A clear timeline. A clear figure. A clear statement of intent.

He went further. “On Tuesday, I'm going to make a significant offer to a top Champions League team for a great player. It would be the largest transfer fee Real Madrid has ever paid. At least 150 million."

For a club that has lived off seismic transfers, that is a heavy sentence. The message was unmistakable: Real Madrid are ready to break their own rules again.

Mourinho, Konate, Dumfries – and more to come

Perez did not stop at the headline deal. He laid out part of his transfer plan with unusual specificity, naming three arrivals he says are already in the works.

"I can tell you about three signings: [Jose] Mourinho, [Ibrahima] Konate, and [Denzel] Dumfries. But there will be more."

It was a deliberate move. Names, roles, direction. In the middle of an election battle, Perez was not just talking about the future; he was putting a structure on it.

A high-profile coach. A powerful defender. A dynamic full-back. And, hovering over it all, a mystery superstar with a €150m price tag. It sounded less like a transfer window and more like a campaign manifesto delivered live on air.

A presidential race turning bitter

The timing of these revelations is no accident. Behind the scenes at the Bernabeu, the mood is combustible.

Enrique Riquelme, Perez’s most prominent rival, has built much of his candidacy on big promises, the loudest of which is a pledge to bring Haaland to the Santiago Bernabeu. In a fan base addicted to marquee names, that kind of vow carries weight.

Perez, though, treated it with open disdain.

Regarding Riquelme’s Haaland promise, he said: "Everyone has denied it: his father, his agent, and the club. It's a bluff. It's a candidacy full of bluffs. And that's why I'm here, to defend Real Madrid. We are a united club."

That word – bluff – landed hard. The president was not just challenging a transfer rumour. He was attacking the credibility of the man trying to unseat him.

“Conspiracy”, “sinister period” and a furious president

As the interview went on, the tone darkened. Perez shifted from transfer talk to what he sees as a deeper threat to the club’s identity.

"The criticism doesn't hurt me. What hurts me is that these people want to influence Real Madrid; Riquelme's father was one of them," he said.

He spoke of “a kind of conspiracy in the media to destabilize the club,” insisting that the pressure around the elections and the swirl of stories were part of a coordinated attempt to shake Madrid from the inside.

"I've been noticing a kind of conspiracy in the media to destabilize the club. I wanted to nip it in the bud. That's why I decided to call elections."

Then came the most pointed line of the night.

"What a coincidence that those who wanted to destabilize Real Madrid are the same ones who come from a sinister period in the club's history. They brought people into the assemblies who weren't from Real Madrid, they snuck in. And that's why I came back in 2009. Now, those are their children. I'm furious."

This was Perez at his most combative: naming names without naming them, tying today’s challengers to what he sees as a darker, chaotic era, and painting himself as the guardian who returned to restore order.

A club on the brink of another giant leap

Strip away the political noise and one thing stands out: Real Madrid are preparing to make the largest signing in their history. A €150m statement, aimed at Europe as much as at their own supporters.

Perez knows what that kind of move does. It shifts conversations. It drowns out rivals’ promises. It reminds everyone who still sets the pace in the transfer market.

He has laid his cards on the table: Mourinho, Konate, Dumfries, and a mystery superstar whose fee will eclipse anything Madrid have ever paid. Across the aisle, Riquelme has his own headline – Haaland – and a belief that the club needs a different hand on the wheel.

One side is promising a revolution. The other is betting that, with one more colossal signing, Real Madrid’s old masterplan still has enough power to rule the future.