Fulham manager Álvaro Arbeloa will have been relieved after helping them secure their first Premier League win of this season at the weekend.
Marco Silva left for Benfica in June, after being in charge for five years.
Silva’s exit saw the English club appoint Arbeloa as their new manager. He arrived after a short spell as Real Madrid’s first team manager.
The Spaniard spent a large part of his playing and coaching career with the La Liga side. He joined their academy in 2001 and left them for Deportivo La Coruña in 2006.
Three years later, the former defender returned to Real Madrid and spent seven seasons with them. In 2017, he ended his playing career and started coaching their youth team in 2020.
In January, Los Blancos president Florentino Pérez promoted him to be first team boss, after parting ways with Xabi Alonso. The president then replaced him with José Mourinho, allowing Fulham to sign Arbeloa.
Tough start to Fulham spell
Álvaro Arbeloa has managed nine matches for the London club, winning three. In these fixtures, Fulham scored 13 and conceded 12 and their first league win was against Hull City at the weekend.
On October 15th, former Fulham assistant manager Javier Pereira assured they won’t sack the manager anytime soon. This was prior to their league win over the Tigers.
However, that hasn’t stopped Catalan newspaper Sport from trying to create trouble for the 43-year-old at Fulham. He raided his former club to sign Gonzalo García, César Palacios and Manuel Ángel.
Agency Best of You, headed by Óscar Ribot, Luis Alonso Alonso and Esteban Granero manage the 43-year-old. Their client list also includes Fulham’s three summer signings, who arrived from Real Madrid.
Question marks over Fulham’s signings
Sport points out Óscar Ribot previously worked as a journalist covering the Spanish giants and was their head of communications between 2009 and 2012. Esteban Granero had a spell at Real Madrid during his playing career.
The newspaper adds: ‘Furthermore, the agency, headquartered on Paseo de la Castellana, directly across from the Santiago Bernabéu, reportedly maintained a strategic alliance with Hello Media Group (HMG), a marketing company chaired by Yago Arbeloa, the manager’s brother.’
Álvaro Arbeloa had previously managed Gonzalo García, César Palacios and Manuel Ángel at Real Madrid’s youth team. Sport mentions it, although in passing.
They end the report by stating: ‘With all this, suspicions are already emerging in the Premier League regarding Arbeloa’s methods and connections when it comes to strengthening the team.’
‘There is talk of a possible conflict of interest and that the focus on players from Primera RFEF (the third division in Spain) wasn’t the best strategy for competing with the Premier League’s elite.’
Sport are a Catalan newspaper, mainly focusing their football coverage about Los Blancos’ arch-rivals, Barcelona. It’s worth pointing out they have always disliked Arbeloa for his Madridismo.
The timing of their report would have made sense had Fulham lost to Hull City. It looks like the newspaper can’t digest Arbeloa ties to Real Madrid even after leaving them.
