Agbonlahor: Fulham would battle relegation if Arbeloa takes charge next season

Former Premier League player and talkSPORT pundit Gabby Agbonlahor believes Fulham's appointment of Álvaro Arbeloa as their new head coach is a "huge gamble" and has even predicted the team could be in a relegation battle next season.

After five years in charge of Fulham, Marco Silva departed to manage Benfica. Last season, Fulham finished 11th in the Premier League, missing out on European qualification by just one point.

Arbeloa is set to take over despite having only five months of senior team coaching experience. He replaced Xabi Alonso at Real Madrid in the latter half of last season but ultimately failed to help the team win any trophies.

On the talkSPORT show, Agbonlahor rated the new managers of various Premier League teams for the upcoming season, and Arbeloa received only 1 point out of 5.

"If Arbeloa does take over, it will be a very difficult job. He previously managed Real Madrid's B team, then replaced Alonso at Real Madrid with a win rate of 64%. But he took over a team that was already competing for La Liga and Champions League titles, and he ultimately didn't do any better than Alonso."

"He has excellent players like Mbappé, but his experience as a head coach is very limited. Fulham's choice of him is a surprising decision."

Agbonlahor believes Silva had already maximized Fulham's potential.

"Marco Silva did a fantastic job there, but even then, he couldn't get Fulham into the top eight to qualify for Europe."

"I'd give Arbeloa a 1. I wouldn't be surprised if Fulham are in a relegation battle next season."

He also pointed out that the team's player departures this summer further increase the risk.

"This might sound a bit dramatic, but Harry Wilson is leaving, and Raúl Jiménez is also joining Wolves. Although he's not a prolific scorer, he's an important player for the team."

"How much can the new head coach get out of these players? We've all seen Silva's passionate coaching style on the sidelines, while Arbeloa is more of a calm and composed type."

"So it's a huge gamble. Of all the new managerial appointments, I think Fulham hiring Arbeloa is the riskiest."

Fulham will kick off their new Premier League season at home against Chelsea on August 24th. Since returning to the Premier League in 2022, Fulham has not finished lower than 13th in the league.

AF's PC site is now live! Browse full news, comments, match details and stats on your computer. Visit: www.allfootballapp.com