Chelsea have continued a significant adjustment to their transfer strategy by signing Jordan Henderson, just days after completing a move for Danny Welbeck.

Henderson, 36, has signed a two-year contract at Stamford Bridge, while Welbeck, 35, has agreed a deal running until 2028 as new manager Xabi Alonso adds experience to his squad.

It represents a notable development for a club which has spent much of the last four years constructing one of football’s most ambitious collections of young players.

Chelsea’s recruitment under their current ownership has overwhelmingly focused on emerging talent, often signed to unusually long contracts with the expectation that players would develop together over several seasons.

Experience has now also been identified as useful.

Welbeck arrived following an impressive season with Brighton, scoring 13 Premier League goals, while Henderson brings considerably more experience than Chelsea have generally attempted to acquire in recent transfer windows.

Before signing Welbeck, the club had not paid a transfer fee for a player over the age of 26 since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang arrived from Barcelona four years ago.

Henderson’s subsequent arrival has made the change increasingly difficult to dismiss as an isolated exception.

The former Liverpool captain brings a Premier League title, a Champions League, 84 England caps and almost two decades of senior football to a squad assembled largely around players expected to produce their best years in the future.

Chelsea have not abandoned their emphasis on youth, and continue to possess one of the youngest squads in the Premier League.

They have simply reached the stage of the project where some of the young players may benefit from having a few older players around.

After several years and considerable expenditure, experience has become the latest part of Chelsea’s long-term plan.