Former Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa is back in the Premier League after almost a decade away.
The Spaniard spent two-and-a-half seasons at Anfield under Rafael Benitez between 2007 and 2009, playing 98 times for the Reds before joining Real Madrid and briefly returning to England with West Ham in 2016/17.
The 43-year-old replaced ex-LFC teammate Xabi Alonso in the Bernabeu dugout earlier this year but lasted just five months in the job, although it hasn’t taken him long to find employment elsewhere.
Late on Tuesday night, Fulham announced (via their official website) that Arbeloa has been appointed as their new head coach, filling the void left by Marco Silva’s move to Benfica.
The former Liverpool right-back has signed a three-year deal at Craven Cottage, where he’ll come up against Alonso in his first official game in charge when his side host Chelsea in a west London derby on 24 August.
The ex-Spain midfielder had been widely touted as a potential successor to Arne Slot at Anfield during the spring before he took the reins at Stamford Bridge.
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Arbeloa’s time at Real Madrid may have been short and not particularly sweet, with Los Blancos falling short in LaLiga and the Champions League, but Fulham should offer him a much more stable environment in which to embellish his managerial reputation.
He won’t have to wait too long for a return to Anfield, either, as the capital club come up against Liverpool in the Premier League on 12 September, the only one of our first five top-flight games in 2026/27 not to be moved from its original Saturday 3pm slot.
The 43-year-old has come to a club who’ve re-established themselves in the top flight after a few years of swapping divisions, finishing between 10th and 13th in each of their four seasons since they were promoted in 2022.
Fulham have proven to be thorny opponents for the Reds over the past couple of years, losing just one of their last four matches against us and ending a seven-month unbeaten run in the Premier League with a 3-2 win over Slot’s side in April 2025 shortly before we clinched the title.
We wish Arbeloa all the best in his new role and hope he goes on to thrive in England…just not on the afternoon that he’s back at Anfield in two months’ time!
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