Three familiar faces from Real Madrid could soon be on their way to Craven Cottage, with Arbeloa keen to build the early stages of his tenure around a trio of players he knows well from his recent time in charge of the Spanish giants' first team.
According to BBC Sport, Arbeloa is pushing for a loan move for midfielder Franco Mastantuono, as well as permanent transfers for centre-forward Gonzalo Garcia and full-back Fran Garcia, both of whom would leave Real Madrid outright rather than arrive on loan.
The move underlines how quickly Arbeloa wants to stamp his own identity on the Fulham squad, turning to players whose qualities he has seen up close rather than starting his rebuild entirely from scratch in an unfamiliar market.
Mastantuono, an 18-year-old Argentine, arrived at Real Madrid from River Plate for around €63million but struggled to hold down a regular starting spot last season, making him a plausible loan candidate as he looks to rebuild momentum elsewhere.
Gonzalo Garcia, by contrast, came through Real Madrid's own academy and burst onto the scene as top scorer at last year's Club World Cup, though his path to regular first-team football in the Spanish capital remains blocked by the presence of Kylian Mbappe. Fran Garcia, meanwhile, is a left-back who has featured for the first team but faces stiff competition of his own in that position.
Fulham have not yet commented publicly on the reported interest, and any deals would still need to be negotiated with Real Madrid, who are unlikely to let three players leave for west London without driving a hard bargain on at least one of the three.
Arbeloa's relationship with all three players from his recent spell in charge of Real Madrid's first team is likely to be viewed as an advantage in any negotiations, given the trust already established between coach and players.