Chelsea sign England midfielder Jordan Henderson

Chelsea announced the signing of veteran England midfielder Jordan Henderson from Premier League rivals Brentford.

The former Liverpool captain, who was part of England’s World Cup squad at the recent tournament in North America, has signed a two-year deal at Stamford Bridge.

“Given the size of the club, the manager, who I have great admiration for, and the quality of the players, this was a huge opportunity I couldn’t turn down,” Henderson said.

“I was also so impressed with how much the ownership want Chelsea to be successful and move in the right direction.

“For me, it’s about giving everything every single day, both on and off the field, to help the players around me and the team as much as possible.

“I’m very excited to get going.”

It was confirmed last week that Henderson had had his Brentford contract terminated after it emerged the club’s west London rivals Chelsea were interested.

The 36-year-old won the Premier League and Champions League with Liverpool.

He left Anfield for Saudi club Al-Ettifaq in 2023, moving to Ajax six months later.

He returned to the Premier League with Brentford in 2025, signing a two-year contract.

Henderson, who has won 91 international caps, was part of England’s 2026 World Cup squad but played only a handful of minutes, breaking an arm later in the tournament.

He joins Xabi Alonso’s squad just two days after Chelsea signed fellow veteran Danny Welbeck from Brighton.

The Blues spent a British-record £117m (R2.5bn) to sign Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa in July and have also landed France defender Maxence Lacroix and Atalanta defender Marco Palestra.

Chelsea finished 10th in the Premier League last season, one point and one place behind Brentford, and failed to qualify for European football.

Alonso’s team will face Fulham at Craven Cottage in their Premier League opener on August 24.

• Meanwhile, Spanish striker Gonzalo Garcia has joined Fulham from Real Madrid, reuniting with his former coach Alvaro Arbeloa, the Premier League club and the Spanish side announced on Monday.

The 22-year-old enjoyed his most productive season last term, scoring eight goals for Madrid, including six in La Liga.

His tally featured a hat-trick against Real Betis in January.

Garcia has signed a contract with Fulham until 2031, with the club holding an option to extend the deal by a further year.

Spanish media reported the transfer fee to be about €40m (R760m), while Madrid are understood to have retained a 30% sell-on clause.

Fulham appointed Arbeloa as head coach earlier this summer.

The Spaniard previously worked within Madrid’s youth set-up before taking over the top job after Xabi Alonso was sacked in January.

Garcia was not the only young Spaniard to make the move from Madrid to west London.

Attacking midfielder Cesar Palacios, 21, also joined Fulham after breaking into the Real first team under Arbeloa in recent months.

Madrid, who hired Portuguese veteran Jose Mourinho as coach to replace Arbeloa, are overhauling their squad after going two consecutive seasons without a major trophy. — AFP