Trevoh Chalobah’s long association with Chelsea is to end after Como agreed a deal worth an initial £25.7m. The England World Cup defender’s departure was agreed on the same day the club completed the signing of Jordan Henderson.
Chalobah made 105 Premier League appearances for Chelsea and established himself as a first-team option during a number of turbulent periods for the club. The move will be seen as a coup for Como’s head coach, Cesc Fàbregas, with the former Chelsea midfielder pushing to bring the centre-back to Italy.
The clubs have settled on a package that includes £5.1m in performance-related add-ons and a sell-on clause. For Chelsea, the departure of another homegrown academy product – Chalobah, now 27, has been at the club since he was eight – will generate pure profit, a key factor as they continue to balance the books.
On another busy day in west London the new manager, Xabi Alonso, welcomed Henderson to the club after his departure from Brentford. The 36-year-old joined on a free transfer after playing 34 times for the Bees last season, a campaign that also earned him a place in England World Cup squad.
“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.”
Henderson came through Sunderland’s academy before joining Liverpool in 2011. He spent 12 seasons at Anfield, playing 492 games in all competitions, and captained the team to Champions League victory in 2019 and the Premier League title in 2020.
He left Liverpool for Al Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro League in 2023, but six months joined Ajax. He moved on again last summer to join Brentford.
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Henderson played six minutes at the World Cup before breaking his arm in a post-match accident after England’s last-16 victory against Mexico. He is Chelsea’s fourth English signing of the transfer window, after the record acquisition of Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa, Danny Welbeck from Brighton and the teenager Harrison Bettoni from Wigan.
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