Fulham are closing in on appointing Alvaro Arbeloa as their new manager, with the club now making significant progress toward finalising a deal.

The news comes from The Athletic’s David Ornstein, who reports that Fulham are “in the process of finalising a deal to appoint Alvaro Arbeloa.”

The search for a new manager was triggered after Marco Silva departed at the end of the season, a move that reportedly caught the club slightly off guard.

Fulham had believed they were close to agreeing a new contract with Silva, making his exit all the more surprising for those inside the club.

The west London club were linked with a number of candidates before settling on Arbeloa as their primary target and pushing forward with negotiations.

Arbeloa is best known to English football fans for his time as a player at Liverpool, before going on to build a career in coaching within the Real Madrid setup.

He worked with Real Madrid’s youth teams before stepping into the senior role on a caretaker basis after taking over from Xabi Alonso mid-season.

His spell as caretaker at Real Madrid was described as a horrible stint, raising genuine questions about his readiness to manage at the top level of the game.

The appointment represents a significant shift in approach from Fulham, who had enjoyed a period of stability in the Premier League under Silva’s steady leadership.

That stability kept relegation fears largely at bay, but the Premier League remains an incredibly competitive environment where fortunes can change rapidly.

Handing the reins to a relatively inexperienced manager is a bold move, and many will be watching closely to see whether Arbeloa can justify the faith being placed in him.

Fulham will be hoping that Arbeloa’s connections to elite football and his work developing talent at Real Madrid can translate into results at Premier League level.

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