Madrid - Former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar is keen to become president of football club Real Madrid. That is the sensational claim made on Friday by Catalan newspaper El Periodico.
Aznar, prime minister from 1996 to 2004, has never made any secret of his love for Real. He attracted both admiration and criticism for turning up at many Real games during his time in office.
However, Aznar has only been a paid-up club member since leaving politics four years ago, and the Real statutes state that candidates for the presidency need at least 10 years of uninterrupted membership.
Current Real president Ramon Calderon still has almost two years of his mandate left, until July 2010. But candidates to replace him are already making their intentions clear, looking for support - and hinting at big signings.
Another potential candidate is Florentino Perez, close friend of Aznar and Real president from 2000 to 2006.
Perez made himself famous for bringing "Galactico" stars such as Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham to the Estadio Bernabeu.
He quit the presidency in a hurry in 2006, with the pampered, ageing "Galacticos" falling apart on the field.
However, Spanish media reports this week claim that Perez is considering a return - and lining up several young "Galacticos" to make his campaign attractive.
El Periodico claims that Perez would like to convert Real into a private company, something that he promised never to do when president.
Real are one of the few Spanish clubs, along with Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, to remain a sporting club controlled by the members, resisting the fashion to become a private company.
Another big shot keen on the Real presidency is Juan Villalonga, controversial president of Telefonica when privatized during the Aznar years.
In August Villalonga tried to buy Valencia but was driven back by Juan Soler, who preferred to hand over control to close friend Vicente Soriano.
On Monday Villalonga announced his intention to be a candidate in Real's 2010 elections - or whenever they are called.
Incumbent Calderon may be tempted to bring the election date forward, if Bernd Schuster's side manages to win the Champions League - or if he finally manages to sign a "Galactico" of his own.
Calderon is taking massive flak for still not having signed a "Galactico".
In his 2006 election campaign he promised Cesc Fabregas and Kaka - neither of whom came in the end. Since then he has been obsessed with snatching Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United - but to no avail so far.
Sports daily AS claims on Friday that Calderon is still interested in the Portugal winger, and in Lyon striker Karim Benzema.
Rival daily Marca, for its part, claims that Calderon and sporting director Predrag Mijatovic "are looking for another Beckham", to give Real's right-wing more star quality.
The team put together by Calderon and Mijatovic since 2006 is hard-working, compact and fairly successful - it has won the last two Liga titles - but it has flopped in the Champions League and it clearly lacks star quality.
Alfredo Relano, influential editor of AS, claims in his column on Friday that Real's fans have a certain nostalgia for the "Galacticos" team of Perez - and that Calderon needs to sign "a couple of dazzling players" if he wants to be re-elected.
