Chelsea explore shock Jordan Henderson move with England star set for free transfer | OneFootball

Former Liverpool star has been granted a free transfer from Brentford

Standard Sport understands the Blues are ahead of other Premier League clubs in the race to sign the England midfielder this summer.

Talks with his representatives are ongoing, but it is understood that no clubs have made formal contact with the Bees as of yet.

However, it is understood that Brentford would be willing to sanction a free transfer if Henderson were to reach an agreement over personal terms with a club keen on signing him.

Chelsea are indeed working to do so, as they look to add experience to their squad ahead of Xabi Alonso’s first season in charge.

Set to depart: Jordan Henderson

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Alonso is looking to add to his options in the engine room, and initially, as Standard Sport reported previously, he had wanted a reunion with former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka, who he worked with at Bayer Leverkusen.

Chelsea saw an £8million bid for the Swiss international rejected by Sunderland, who then issued not one but two hands-off warnings to their domestic rivals.

The west Londoners then also tabled an offer for Bournemouth’s Alex Scott, with a proposed fee of £64m for the in-demand 22-year-old, but they received a similar answer from the Cherries as they did from Sunderland.

Henderson is recovering from a freak injury that he suffered at this summer’s World Cup in North America, where he was a surprise inclusion in manager Thomas Tuchel’s final squad for the tournament.

The veteran played just six minutes across the Three Lions’ matches, with his only appearance coming off the bench against Panama in the group stage.

He then broke his arm amidst the wild celebrations that broke out following England’s 3-2 victory over Mexico at the Estadio Azteca in the last 16, as Tuchel’s men scraped through with ten men after Jarrell Quansah’s red card.

Henderson returned to the Premier League last summer after a couple of years away.

After leaving Liverpool in 2023, he moved to Al-Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro League before a short-lived spell in the Netherlands with Ajax.

He returned to England at Brentford, where he played 32 times in the top flight last term as Keith Andrews led the Bees to a ninth-place finish.