Chelsea are in talks to sign Brentford’s Jordan Henderson and Brighton’s Danny Welbeck.

England midfielder Henderson, 36, has a year left on his Brentford contract but the Bees are willing to let him leave on a free transfer.

Ex-England striker Welbeck, 35, is keen on moving to Stamford Bridge and there is optimism from Chelsea’s side that a deal can be concluded.

The Blues are looking for experience because of an acceptance that their model of signing young players needs a “tweak” – according to influential owner Behdad Eghbali in April.

Welbeck scored a career-high 13 league goals in 37 games for Brighton last season, taking his tally to 51 goals in 201 matches since joining from Watford in 2020.

Brighton have declined to comment.
Welbeck signed a 12-month contract extension in March, with his current deal running until the end of the 2026-27 season.

Henderson made 34 appearances in all competitions for Brentford last season after joining from Ajax.

He made one substitute appearance for England at the World Cup before breaking his arm falling over advertising hoardings while celebrating their last-16 win over Mexico.

There are questions over the futures of several Chelsea forwards, with Joao Pedro regarded as the club’s first-choice option.

Chelsea also have Liam Delap, Emmanuel Emegha, Marc Guiu and Nicolas Jackson on their books.

Guiu is understood to be available for a permanent transfer or a loan move, with Chelsea valuing him at about £25m.

Jackson, who has returned from a loan spell at Bayern Munich, was expected to remain at Stamford Bridge but is open to leaving amid interest from Aston Villa.

Delap was keen to establish himself under new manager Xabi Alonso, just a year after a £30m move from Ipswich, but he is increasingly expected to depart.

There is also uncertainty surrounding the future of Dutch striker Emegha, despite having only recently joined Chelsea from Strasbourg, a club within the same ownership group.

Chelsea have signed attacker Morgan Rogers for a club record £117m, full-back Marco Palestra and are closing in on a move for centre-back Maxence Lacroix this summer.