Chelsea have agreed a deal to signal Danny Welbeck whereas Jordan Henderson is ready to cancel his Brentford contract to allow a transfer to Stamford Bridge.
Henderson, 36, is underneath contract till 2027. Welbeck, 35, has agreed a two-year deal and been given permission by Brighton to conduct a medical at Stamford Bridge.
A charge for the striker has additionally been agreed however stays undisclosed as Chelsea tie up the deal for him to affix pre-season in Hong Kong after Chelsea‘s ultimate match in Australia towards Tottenham on Saturday night.
Welbeck will change into the oldest signing underneath the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital possession, till Henderson’s possible arrival with the west Londoners.
It is a part of new supervisor Xabi Alonso’s drive so as to add expertise to Chelsea‘s squad, which has been the youngest within the Premier League for the previous two seasons.
Their deal with youth has been considered as an element of their lack of ability to problem constantly for main honours.
In the direction of the tip of final season’s disappointing marketing campaign, once they completed tenth and received nothing, Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali mentioned their recruitment mannequin wanted a “tweak”.
Since then, Chelsea have made a suggestion to reunite Sunderland midfielder Granit Xhaka, 34, with Alonso – they received the Bundesliga title collectively at Bayer Leverkusen in 2024.
They’ve additionally signed 26-year-old centre-back Maxence Lacroix from Crystal Palace on a six-year contract, pending an official announcement, whereas talks proceed over Henderson.
Morgan Rogers, who signed for a club-record £117m from Aston Villa earlier this month, is comparatively skilled, regardless of having simply turned 24.
The membership have additionally signed 21-year-old full-back Marco Palestra from Atalanta.
Welbeck, previously of Manchester United and Arsenal, has hit 90 targets in 400 top-flight appearances – and is the main Premier League scorer at Brighton, who he joined on a free switch from Watford in 2021.
His arrival would depart Chelsea with six senior strikers on their books, with others accessible for mortgage or sale.
Amongst those that might depart on both a everlasting deal or mortgage are Nicolas Jackson, Liam Delap and Marc Guiu.
The Blues have additionally introduced in Dutch striker Emmanuel Emegha from sister membership Strasbourg this summer time and he might stay a part of the squad.
Henderson, in the meantime, would add additional expertise and seniority to the squad, having been chosen by Thomas Tuchel as a part of England’s management group at this summer time’s World Cup.
It was in the course of the celebrations following England’s last-16 victory over Mexico that Henderson fractured his arm and wrist after touchdown awkwardly whereas leaping over an promoting hoarding.
Henderson joined Brentford final summer time after spells overseas with Dutch facet Ajax and Saudi membership Al Ettifaq. That adopted a massively profitable spell at Liverpool, the place he received six main honours, together with the Champions League and Premier League.
He joins a midfield that features Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Dario Essugo, Romeo Lavia and Valentin Barco – who is predicted to affix from Strasbourg – pending an official announcement.
