Chelsea transfer news: Henderson, Welbeck, Lacroix - why do Blues want older players now?

Chelsea look set to complete a free transfer for Brentford midfielder Jordan Henderson (left), with Brighton's Danny Welbeck also emerging as a transfer target

Chelsea are targeting deals for Maxence Lacroix, Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson - and the ages of the experienced trio seem to signal a major change in transfer tactics from the Blues.

At 26, it could be said that Crystal Palace and France defence Lacroix is in his prime, but the £52m target is still notably older than other recent Blues signings.

It has been two years since Chelsea signed a player older than Lacroix, and Tosin Adarabioyo was only marginally older when he arrived three months before turning 27.

Meanwhile, Brighton striker Welbeck is 35 and keen to move to Stamford Bridge, and Brentford and England midfielder Henderson is 36.

Welbeck's potential arrival could mean he replaces 23-year-old Liam Delap in the first-team picture.

That is despite Delap having been considered one of the Premier League's most exciting young strikers when Chelsea signed him from Ipswich Town last year.

So does this signal a deliberate change in recruitment strategy - prioritising experience over youth? And what might Chelsea have learned from recent seasons.

Chelsea spent over £90m in signing Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the summer of 2022

In the months that followed the club's takeover four years ago, then manager Thomas Tuchel went on a spending spree.

His first major signing was Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling - aged 27 at the time - for up to £50m including add-ons. After winning four Premier League titles at City and helping England reach the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, there was much excitement.

Sterling at Chelsea didn't work out though. Despite moments of brilliance, Sterling struggled for form and fitness as the team went on to finish 12th in the 2022-23 season.

For a player reportedly earning over £300,000 a week, his performances fell well short of expectations. Sterling eventually left on a free transfer in January 2026.

Kalidou Koulibaly's arrival from Napoli for £33m also didn't end well. Rated at the time as one of European club football's top centre-backs, the Senegalese player - then 31 - was out of the door after just one season, joining Al-Hilal.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is another experienced player whose time at Stamford Bridge was short-lived. The former AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal striker signed from Barcelona for £10.3m on the final day of the summer transfer window - just days before Tuchel's sacking.

Aubameyang - 33 when he joined - struggled to find form or game time under subsequent bosses Graham Potter and Frank Lampard and, like Sterling, ended up leaving the club on a free transfer.

Chelsea switched their focus to signing younger players in 2022 with Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Cole Palmer joining the club

After such a poor return from their investment, it is perhaps no surprise that there was a shift in recruitment policy, as Chelsea switched their focus to signing younger players.

Let's start here with the success stories.

Chelsea made a major investment in a World Cup winner in January 2023 when they signed Argentina star Enzo Fernandez from Benfica for a then-British record fee of £107m. The move came just two weeks after his 22nd birthday.

Across the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons, Fernandez registered an impressive 24 assists in all competitions - including the Club World Cup - trailing only Bruno Fernandes and Mohamed Salah among Premier League players.

Chelsea made another nine-figure move just seven months later to sign Moises Caicedo - then 21 - from Brighton.

His £100m price tag - rising to a potential £115m - seemed hard to justify at first as the Ecuadorian had a slow start at Stamford Bridge.

Since then, Caicedo has established himself as one of the Premier League's leading midfielders.

Caicedo was the joint leader for interceptions in the Premier League last season (59, the same number as James Garner of Everton).

The initial £40m the club paid Manchester City for Cole Palmer - also 21 at the time in September 2023 - has also looked like money well spent.

Palmer was the club's top scorer in his first season.

Only Erling Haaland (76), Salah (54) and Ollie Watkins (51) have scored more goals than Palmer, with 47, in the Premier League since he joined.

Then there are the signings that haven't worked out.

Mykhailo Mudryk was 22 when he joined Chelsea from Shakhtar Donetsk for an initial fee of £62m, potentially rising to £89m including add-ons. The Ukraine winger, now 25, has been sidelined for over 18 months after an "adverse finding in a routine urine test" led to a provisional suspension in December 2024.

The winger has since been served with a four-year ban by the Football Association and has lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Joao Felix struggled to make an impact during two stints at Chelsea. His first loan spell in 2023 at the age of 23 started with a red card in his first game.

A permanent move followed a year later but he struggled to justify the fee - somewhere in the region of £45m - and scored just once in 12 Premier League games before being sold to Al-Nassr.

After joining from Leicester for about £70m at the age of 21, Wesley Fofana's time at Chelsea has been plagued by injury.

The France international, who was not selected for his country's World Cup squad, could be under scrutiny as the club look to reduce the size of their squad.

For a club to have spent as much as Chelsea, it is no surprise fans might be frustrated with the returns - or lack of them.

The 12th-placed Premier League finish in 2022-23 - the first season since the takeover by the BlueCo consortium - was clearly a big disappointment.

Improvements followed, with sixth and fourth in the next two campaigns signalling strides in the right direction, but finishing 10th last season was another big blow.

Since 2022, Chelsea have won two trophies: the Conference League and the Club World Cup.

But for owners with such big ambitions, they will surely feel like their expectations haven't yet been met.

If his previous managerial approach is anything to go by, Xabi Alonso favours a blend of youth and experience.

The Spaniard signed four players over the age of 27 for the 2023-24 season at Bayer Leverkusen. They included Granit Xhaka and Alejandro Grimaldo - two key players in their Bundesliga title-winning side.

Another four players over the age of 27 came the following season.

It could be a similar story now at Chelsea.

Owner Behdad Eghbali said Chelsea would "tweak" their model and add experience to what he still believes is a strong core of young players, including Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo and Levi Colwill.

Welbeck joining Chelsea would be another sign of a shift in strategy.

Their move for him follows attempts to sign 33-year-old midfielder Granit Xhaka from Sunderland, with the Black Cats refusing to sell the Switzerland captain.

Although the arrival of Rogers, 23, fits the club's preferred policy of signing younger players, he brings significant Premier League experience.

The Blues are also expected to complete a £52m move for Lacroix, 26 - further Premier League-ready experience.

It is clear that Welbeck's arrival would leave Chelsea with an abundance of attacking options for a season when they are not involved in European competition so do not necessarily need such resources.

At his age, Welbeck may be content to provide cover for Joao Pedro, but the move would represent bad news for several other forwards.

Nicolas Jackson is open to leaving, while Delap and Emmanuel Emegha had hoped to establish themselves under Alonso.

Nevertheless, the Chelsea manager is getting what he wants: experience and strong personalities to address shortcomings that contributed to the team's 10th-place finish in the Premier League last season.