Why are Chelsea signing Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck - and will they play? | OneFootball

Blues poised to complete shock double transfer that no one saw coming

Chelsea are set to complete moves for Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck as they look to add experience to Xabi Alonso’s squad ahead of the new season.

Welbeck is set to undergo a medical this week ahead of signing a two-year deal, while Henderson agreed to mutually terminate his Brentford contract in order to complete a shock switch to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea’s young squad has been crying out for experience, with the club’s BlueCo ownership pursuing a youth-led transfer model since taking charge four years ago.

Alonso has driven the club’s pursuit of Welbeck and Henderson and believes the pair will become leaders and mentors within an at times fractious dressing room.

Chelsea have lacked know-how on and off the pitch during BlueCo’s ownership, but in Welbeck and Henderson they are set to recruit two players who are 35 and 36 years old respectively.

Age is no barrier to performance in BlueCo’s mind - they have pursued potential over proven talent for nearly half a decade - but there are concerns about just how much influence Welbeck and Henderson will have on the pitch given they are both nearing the end of their playing careers.

Welbeck has found form and fitness during the latter stages of his, and scored 13 Premier League goals last season for Brighton.

Done deals: Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck are both set to join Chelsea this week

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Henderson, though, faded after a bright start at Brentford and was a peripheral figure in the second half of the season, in part due to an injury that meant he missed four games across April and May.

The argument for Welbeck, who acted as a mentor to Chelsea striker Joao Pedro while the pair were at Brighton, is more compelling than for Henderson, and there are suggestions that the Blues are overcompensating in their pursuit of experience.

The imminent £52million arrival of 26-year-old centre-back Maxence Lacroix from Crystal Palace is a less dramatic nod to the idea that Chelsea are moving away from their youth-centric transfer policy. But it also speaks to the fact that experience is not just a result of age.

It feels like Chelsea have swung from one extreme to the other, and while there is a method to their move for Welbeck, where Henderson fits into Alonso’s overhaul is less clear and has thus drawn more criticism.

Henderson is highly respected, and it says a lot about the influence he wields that Thomas Tuchel was prepared to absorb the inevitable backlash after he called up the former Liverpool captain to his England squad for the World Cup this summer.

It will always be hard to quantify the impact a player like Henderson has on intangibles such as squad harmony, but what can’t be discredited is how important these metrics are in building a winning team.

Alonso has driven Chelsea’s pursuit of Welbeck and Henderson and believes the pair will become leaders and mentors

Henderson, unlike so many in the current Chelsea squad, is a winner, and that experience will prove invaluable to a team that have threatened without ever fulfilling their potential as title challengers.

What has been clear during another summer of change at Chelsea is that Alonso has been entrusted to deliver his vision, and he views Welbeck and Henderson as crucial to his plans.

There are obvious concerns attached to the deals for Welbeck and Henderson, but the fact that the club are looking to actively address an area of considerable weakness displays a flexibility they have previously shown little willingness to exert.

Those in charge at Chelsea know that it is boom or bust with Alonso, and so they are prepared to back the Spaniard’s demands.

Adding Welbeck and Henderson is likely to have minimal impact on the pitch, especially given that Chelsea will, for the most part, be playing just once a week after failing to qualify for Europe.

But when it comes to rebuilding the culture and standards that have slowly eroded at the club after years of turnover, there is no doubt they will have an immeasurable influence.

Welbeck and Henderson’s signatures may appear to be for the here and now. But as ever with Chelsea, these deals are with a view to the future.