Alvaro Arbeloa agrees Premier League move following Real Madrid exit | OneFootball

It has been several weeks since Alvaro Arbeloa managed his final Real Madrid match, but he’s already preparing for a return to the dugout. Last week, the club officially announced that he had left to make way for Jose Mourinho’s return as manager, but he’s set to land on his feet in the Premier League.

Arbeloa took over from Xabi Alonso in January, and but he was always playing catch-up. Losing to Albacete in the Copa del Rey early on in his tenure set the tone, and he was never able to recover, and by the end of the 2025-26 season, things had turned toxic between him and a number of Real Madrid players.

Despite this, Premier League side Fulham see him well as a possible replacement for Marco Silva, who left Craven Cottage to replace Mourinho at Benfica. Talks have been ongoing with Arbeloa’s representatives, and now, Fabrizio Romano has reported that an agreement is almost in place.

In the final weeks of his Real Madrid tenure, Arbeloa claimed that he was not able to play his preferred style at the Bernabeu, given that he was trying to keep the club’s biggest players happy. In this sense, he will believe that he can show his true potential at Fulham, and the London side’s hierarchy appear to be on board with this thinking.

Real Madrid will keep one eye on Arbeloa’s situation

Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Like Alonso, it’s clear that the Real Madrid managerial gig was too big for Arbeloa, especially considering it was his first job in senior football. He will hope to develop during his time at Fulham, and if he does to a sufficient standard, there is every chance that he could return to the Bernabeu in the future – club bosses could certainly leave the possibility open, which is why it would be no surprise if they kept tabs on him in the Premier League.