Chelsea are reportedly preparing an offer for Brighton striker Danny Welbeck.
The veteran forward showed little sign of slowing down last term as he netted 13 goals in 37 Premier League appearances, his best return in the top-flight.
After a raft of youthful purchases in recent years, new Chelsea head coach Xabi Alonso is keen to see experience added to his squad as he looks to create a side capable of challenging for the Premier League title and Welbeck certainly ticks that criteria with over 400 career appearances.
According to David Ornstein of The Athletic, there is optimism from the Blues camp that a deal can be struck for Welbeck, who has 12 months remaining on his Brighton contract.
Chelsea currently have a number of strikers on their books including Joao Pedro, Liam Delap, Nicolas Jackson, Marc Guiu and Emmanuel Emegha.
The club are open to sell Delap, who only joined from Ipswich Town last summer, while Guiu is currently considered to be surplus to requirements and is available for either a loan or permanent deal.
Jackson, who spent last season on loan at Bayern Munich, was omitted from Chelsea's squad for the pre-season tour of Australia and is expected to depart again before the window concludes, with Aston Villa heading the queue for the Senegal international.
Welbeck's arrival would mark another addition to the long list of players making the switch from Brighton to Chelsea in recent years.
The west London club have boosted the Seagulls' coffers by over £200m in the last four years with the signings of Marc Cucurella, Joao Pedro, Moises Caicedo and Robert Sanchez.
Welbeck would at least be considerably cheaper than the aforementioned quartet.
Scoring 51 goals in 201 matches for Brighton since joining from Watford in 2020, Welbeck reached double figures for goals in the Premier League in back-to-back seasons as his tally of 13 last term surpassed his total of 10 in 2024/25.
His previous best in a single Premier League campaign was nine goals, which he achieved twice with Manchester United in 2011/12 and 2013/14.
Welbeck's form under Fabian Hurzeler in the last few months of the season prompted suggestion the 35-year-old should be included in Thomas Tuchel's England squad for the 2026 World Cup, and although the German flirted with the idea, he was ultimately overlooked as Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney were selected.
