Alvaro Arbeloa on Fulham's Squad and Chelsea Derby

Alvaro Arbeloa has made it clear Fulham’s squad is not finished yet – and he is not pretending otherwise.

Three signings are through the door at Craven Cottage before Monday night’s Premier League opener against Chelsea. Shea Charles has arrived from Southampton, while Spaniards Gonzalo Garcia and Cesar Palacios have followed Arbeloa from Real Madrid to west London.

Useful pieces. Not the full puzzle.

Issa Diop has not been replaced since his move to Ipswich, leaving a gap at centre-back. Higher up the pitch, there is still no obvious successor to Harry Wilson, Fulham’s most reliable source of goals last season. For a coach obsessed with structure and shape, those absences matter.

From Motspur Park on Friday, Arbeloa struck a balance between satisfaction and urgency.

“I think we can make the squad stronger and more balanced,” he told reporters. “But I am happy with the way the club is working this summer. We have three new players, so we are still working on it.”

So the message is simple: progress, yes. Job done, no.

Derby debut and an old friend

If Arbeloa wanted a gentle introduction to English management, the fixture list ignored him. A west London derby against Chelsea, under the lights, to launch his Fulham tenure is as sharp as baptisms come.

On the opposite bench will be Xabi Alonso, the man he knows better than most. They shared a dressing room with Spain and Liverpool. Arbeloa then stepped into Alonso’s shoes at Real Madrid when Alonso left and Arbeloa eventually lost his job there in January.

The reunion storyline writes itself, but Arbeloa is not interested in sentiment once the whistle blows.

“We analyse Chelsea like we did with other teams,” he said. “I know [his style of football] well because I watch so many games of his teams, but we know it will not be easy.

“They are a very strong squad with top players. They also made good signings, so we have to be ready if we want to beat them. We need to do a very good game.”

The respect is obvious. So is the edge.

Arbeloa revealed he had spoken to Alonso “a few days ago”, though the conversation stayed away from tactics and team sheets.

“We didn’t talk about football. Our families are coming to London, and we are very good friends.

“On Monday night, we will be there on the touchline, so close for 90 minutes. We will give everything for our clubs. We will try to win the games. For 90 minutes, like he said, we are not friends.

“That is the most important thing. We want to win that game. It will be so important if we win against Chelsea. The only thing I can think about is our performance, to be ready to play. We are working very, very hard.”

So Fulham head into the derby still under construction, still searching for balance, but with a manager who knows exactly what he wants – and exactly who he wants to beat first.