5 Real Madrid stars are pushing for Alvaro Arbeloa to stay permanently

Real Madrid did not initially hire Alvaro Arbeloa to be a permanent solution at manager, but rather a stabilizing force with experience at the club who could smooth over the acrimony building up in the club after Xabi Alonso essentially treated the club’s star players like a bunch of overgrown children.

Well, mission accomplished. After being battered by Atletico Madrid in the first Derbi of the 2025/26 season, Real Madrid came roaring back and battled past injuries and adversity to christen the Santiago Bernabeu with a 3-2 victory over Los Rojiblancos in a thriller.

And in the aftermath of the game, all anyone can do is wax poetic about Arbeloa. According to a new report from MARCA, via The Madrid Zone, some of Real Madrid’s most important players are pushing hard for Arbeloa to be more than just an interim manager.

Fede Valverde and Vinicius Junior want Arbeloa to stay

Center back Antonio Rudiger, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, center midfielder Fede Valverde, left winger Vinicius Junior, and defensive midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni are all backing Arbeloa to remain their coach when the 2026/27 season opens up.

It is no surprise to see that Valverde and Vinicius are firmly backing Arbeloa. After all, these two superstars were struggling badly and pretty maligned under Xabi Alonso, relegated to secondary roles, playing out of position, and even outright ostracized by the coach after being pillars of the team for years.

Arbeloa immediately mended fences, made them feel important, and turned them back into their world class selves. Both men were central to Real’s 3-2 win over Atleti, for example.

Although Arbeloa did not come in to the season as a touted tactician and was merely a youth coach, as opposed to Alonso, who was the hottest up and coming manager in football and had won Bayer Leverkusen’s first ever title with a historic undefeated season in the Bundesliga.

But through humility, relating to players, and being the impeccable human that he was for years as Real Madrid’s unsung starting right back before Dani Carvajal’s arrival, he has been everything Real needed in the manager’s chair as the successor for the beloved Carlo Ancelotti.

At this point, it would be a borderline upset if Real Madrid did not decide to stick with Arbeloa. When you have these five influential men on your side, including the club’s unofficial voice of reason Thibaut Courtois, then you are sure to have the backing of Florentino Perez, who proved to Alonso that he cares about the players first and foremost.