Chelsea are in talks to sign Brighton and Hove Albion striker Danny Welbeck as they look to add more Premier League experience to Xabi Alonso’s squad.
Chelsea have primarily targeted younger players under their BlueCo owners but are now keen to pursue a deal for Welbeck.
The 35-year-old has one year remaining on his contract at Brighton, where he scored 13 goals in 37 Premier League appearances last season. Despite his age, it was the best goalscoring campaign of Welbeck’s career and the season in which he played the most league games.
Chelsea already have five centre-forwards in Alonso’s first-team squad: João Pedro, Liam Delap, Nicolas Jackson, Marc Guiu and Emmanuel Emegha.
Jackson, Guiu and Delap are all potential for sale candidates this summer, while Emegha is unproven in the Premier League following his transfer from Strasbourg.
Since the start of 2023, Chelsea have only signed one player aged 26 or older – central defender Tosin Adarabioyo, who joined from Fulham on a free transfer in 2024.
This summer, however, they have accepted a need to add more experience and leadership to the squad. They showed serious interest in Sunderland midfielder Granit Xhaka, 33, and have looked at signing John Stones, 32, as a free agent.
Chelsea are also close to finalising a deal for centre-back Maxence Lacroix, 26, who is set to arrive from Crystal Palace in a deal worth £52m.
Welbeck could become the latest in a long line of Brighton players to swap the Amex Stadium for Stamford Bridge in recent seasons.
Since 2022, Chelsea have signed Marc Cucurella, Robert Sánchez, Moisés Caicedo, Pedro and Facundo Buonanotte (loan) from Brighton. Chelsea also took former head coach Graham Potter from the south coast and have hired a number of Brighton’s off-field staff, including sporting director Paul Winstanley and director of global recruitment Sam Jewell.
In March, Welbeck triggered a 12-month option in his Brighton contract to extend his stay at the club until the summer of 2027.
He has been a key figure since joining the club in 2020. Fabian Hürzeler, the Brighton head coach, believed Welbeck deserved a place in the England squad for the World Cup and has praised the striker’s “professionalism” and “work ethic”.
Welbeck came through the Manchester United academy and played for the first-team before moving to Arsenal in 2014. He then spent one season at Watford before joining Brighton on a free transfer.
Shift in strategy an admission previous approach could not last
Chelsea’s BlueCo owners have demonstrated that they are capable of trading footballers on a scale that has never been seen before in the English game. What they have not shown, though, is that they know how to build a team who can be successful over the course of an entire campaign.
Yes, Chelsea have won the Conference League and the Club World Cup in recent seasons. But the ultimate test of a club of Chelsea’s stature is the Premier League and Champions League, and in these competitions they have unquestionably fallen short over the past four years. Under BlueCo, Chelsea have finished 12th, sixth, fourth and 10th in the league.
Last season, especially, provided evidence that the balance of their squad was not right, and they are now trying to change the internal dynamic by adding more leadership and experience to the team. It appears to be an admission that their obsession with signing young players can only take them so far.
If a deal can be agreed, Danny Welbeck would arrive at Stamford Bridge on the back of his best goalscoring campaign. His return of 13 goals for Brighton and Hove Albion last season was indicative of his mental sharpness and excellent physical condition. But Welbeck would likely be more important off the pitch for Chelsea than on it.
There would be little expectation of Welbeck replacing his old Brighton team-mate João Pedro as the first-choice striker in Alonso’s squad. And with no European games this season, Chelsea will not need to rotate the team as much as in previous years. At Stamford Bridge, Welbeck would therefore be unlikely to match his total of 37 league appearances last season.
Off the field, however, Chelsea would expect Welbeck to be as influential as he has been at Brighton since 2020. The 35-year-old has embraced his role as elder statesman at the Amex, where he has taken pleasure in helping the development of younger players. He is widely regarded as the ultimate professional and as a unifying force within the Brighton squad.
“I’ve got invaluable experience and I’m happy to pass that on to the younger boys, wanting them to improve,” Welbeck said last year. Fabian Hürzeler recently praised him, meanwhile, for “creating a good togetherness” within the team. Such qualities may not be as obvious to the outside word as goals and assists, but they can be just as important. Chelsea supporters will be encouraged that their club have seemingly come to that realisation.