Henderson: What Alonso has done over the last few years is special

Jordan Henderson believes Xabi Alonso has done "pretty special" things as a manager over the past few years and is excited to play under the Chelsea boss.

Henderson completed his move to Chelsea as a free agent on Monday, signing a two-year deal at Stamford Bridge following his exit from Brentford.

The 36-year-old joins Danny Welbeck as the latest veteran to join the Blues as Alonso looks to add experience to his youthful side.

Chelsea have not given a single minute to a player over the age of 30 in any of their last 123 matches in all competitions, since 39-year-old Thiago Silva's last appearance in May 2024.

And it is a full-circle moment for Henderson, who made his professional debut at Stamford Bridge while playing for Sunderland.

Since making his Premier League debut in Sunderland's 5-0 away defeat to Chelsea in November 2008, only James Milner (481) has made more appearances in the competition than Henderson (463).

Henderson is now looking forward to working under Alonso, who also joined this summer following his departure from Real Madrid in January.

"We had a very good chat," Henderson told the club website about Alonso.

"I had huge admiration for Xabi as a player, and now I have huge admiration for him as a manager. What he’s done over the last few years has been pretty special.

"Everyone that I know that has either worked with him or played with him has said very good things. Not one person had a bad thing to say about him. That speaks for him very highly.

"Then when I spoke to him, I got a very good feeling that it would be an honour to come and play under him."

Prior to his exit from Madrid, Alonso won 24 of his 34 matches in charge of Los Blancos (D4 L6) and saw his side score 72 times across those games.

Alonso also completed an unbeaten domestic campaign with Bayer Leverkusen in 2023-24, winning the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal before losing the Europa League final.