The 43-year-old former defender faced the media on Friday in what he called his penultimate press conference as Madrid coach, ahead of Saturday's final LaLiga fixture against Athletic Club at the Santiago Bernabéu. He confirmed directly what most had already taken for granted: he will not be in charge next season.
José Mourinho is widely expected to take over, but Arbeloa was careful to close that particular door.
"Mourinho has a fantastic coaching staff — he is very well surrounded," he said. "If he arrives, he will do so with his own people, as he should. There is no chance I will be part of his staff. I have spent these four months thinking about Real Madrid. From now on, it is time to think about myself."
On his relationship with the squad, Arbeloa was candid.
"I have had a relationship with everyone. We have had conversations — sometimes we agreed, sometimes we did not. I am aware that with 25 players you cannot have the same relationship with all of them. We have had our differences, and that is normal. But we have resolved them the best way we could, with mutual respect."
He pushed back against any suggestion that he had compromised himself in the role.
"I have done the best possible for the club. In another club it would have been different, but this was what I had to do. There is no room for regret."
On questions about when he felt unable to be fully himself: "In many moments — the moments I was dealt. I know what the team was like when I arrived and what I had to face. It would certainly have been different had I been in charge from the first day of the season. But it was what it was, and I tried to do things the best way — not my way."
He was at pains to separate his personal ambitions from his decisions in the role: "I have always thought more about Real Madrid than about myself in these months. But I have done the best for the club."
Saturday will also be the farewell appearance of Dani Carvajal, the veteran right-back who is out of contract this summer. Arbeloa was warm in tribute.
"Carvajal is a symbol of what a Real Madrid player should be — a product of the academy, someone who laid the first stone of the training ground, which makes him special and unique. I hope the whole stadium rises when he comes off."
He concluded with a note of hope rather than resignation: "I hope this is a see-you-later, because I have always considered this club my home. I have been part of Real Madrid for 20 years in many different roles. I have made the leap into management, I have improved greatly over these four months, and I feel prepared for new challenges."
Madrid finished second in LaLiga behind Barcelona and were eliminated from the Champions League at the quarter-final stage by Bayern Munich. Arbeloa replaced Xabi Alonso in January.
Whether the door back to the Bernabéu remains open is a question only time can answer.