Former Liverpool star set for Premier League job 15 years after leaving Anfield

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Liverpool is set to face off with a familiar face next season, as a former star who left the club 15 years ago is in advanced talks to join a rival Premier League club this summerFormer Liverpool ace Alvaro Arbeloa is set to join Fulham this summer(Image: (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images))Former Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa is set for a return to the Premier League this summer, as reports claim that he is in advanced talks to join a rival club as its new head coach.The 43-year-old spent two years at Anfield during his playing days, joining the club in 2007 from Deportivo La Coruna for a fee in the region of $3.4 million. In that two-year stint, Arbeloa went on to make 98 appearances for Liverpool across all competitions, cementing himself as a key player for Rafa Benitez, before his eventual exit.That came in 2009, as the Spaniard returned to his first club, Real Madrid, for a fee worth roughly $6.7 million, racking up 238 appearances in his seven-year career with Los Blancos, before a short stint with West Ham and his eventual retirement in 2017.In the time since, Arbeloa has taken to coaching, working his way through the youth ranks with Real Madrid and taking the step up to the B team last year.Then came the surprise dismissal of Xabi Alonso, which called for the 43-year-old to take charge on an interim basis until the end of the season, which came with plenty of challenges and his eventual exit at the end of a dismal campaign for Los Blancos.Now that he is free to join other clubs, talkSPORT reports that Arbeloa is in "advanced talks" with Fulham over the vacant managerial position at Craven Cottage.Alvaro Arbeloa could face off with his former club, Liverpool, this season(Image: (Photo By Dennis Agyeman/Europa Press via Getty Images))The coach is tipped to replace Marco Silva, after he took Jose Mourinho's position at Benfica, which came about because he joined Real Madrid, closing a potential full circle in the managerial merry-go-round.Should the deal get sealed, it could see Arbeloa take on his old club Liverpool 15 years on from leaving the Merseyside outfit as a player.That may throw a new kind of challenge to Andoni Iraola, as he also prepares for a new job, this time with the Reds, following his exit from Bournemouth.The 43-year-old will need time to implement his style of play with Liverpool, with the intention of playing high-pressure soccer with the intensity and desire that have been seen during some of the more recent successes.There are many questions over how well that adjustment will go, not least from the perspective of the players, who had been playing a more patient possession-based style under Arne Slot.One challenge may surround the energy and pace within the squad, while another may bring up dilemmas for how well Iraola can adjust to having more possession than the opponents in comparison to his time at Bournemouth.The questions will likely continue into next season for both Iraola and Arbeloa, along with a whole host of other managers who are taking over at clubs this summer.