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Granit Xhaka moving to Chelsea certainly feels unlike the club’s usual business model, doesn’t it?

Since the start of the BlueCo era, Chelsea have been known for their aggressive recruitment of young talents – and, at times, players who didn’t quite live up to that billing.

Yet, reports suggest that Chelsea are pursuing the signing of 33-year-old Xhaka at the request of his former Bayer Leverkusen manager, Xabi Alonso. One wonders if Alonso has read his new employers’ playbook.

To find Chelsea’s last signing of a player aged over 30, you’d have to go back to September 2022. Looking at the 10 most recent such signings takes us all the way back to 2014 – a couple of years before Xhaka himself even joined Arsenal.

Here’s a ranking of the 10 most recent players aged above 30 to sign for Chelsea.

Three of them were reserve goalkeepers who never made a single competitive appearance for the club – and frankly, separating them is more about intuition than analysis.

Marco Amelia spent the 2015–16 campaign at Chelsea, a season that saw the Blues finish 10th.

Ever so slightly more memorable than Amelia, Eduardo arrived in 2016 as the third-choice goalkeeper and ended up as a Premier League winner in his debut season – though he never actually played a match.

The former Portugal international was released in 2019, having spent the final year of his contract on loan at Vitesse Arnhem.

Few can forget the image of him lifting the Europa League trophy in full Chelsea kit in 2019 – despite, once again, never playing a competitive game.

Now, onto those who did feature for Chelsea – though the club may have wished Kalidou Koulibaly hadn’t.

Koulibaly had been linked with a Premier League move for what felt like an eternity after becoming one of Serie A’s top defenders at Napoli.

Chelsea finally got their man in 2022, their first transfer window after the takeover, paying £33 million for the Senegalese centre-back.

However, his time in London was short-lived. He lasted only one season, looking a shadow of his stellar self from Italy.

The most recent over-30 arrival before Xhaka’s potential move was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whose stint lasted just one campaign and produced a single Premier League goal.

He ranks above Koulibaly purely because he cost less.

To be fair, the signing had some logic. Aubameyang was a proven Premier League striker from his Arsenal days and had recently netted 13 goals in 24 matches for Barcelona.

But he never solved Chelsea’s attacking woes – all the more frustrating when he went on to score 30 goals for Marseille the following season.

In January 2019, Chelsea brought in Gonzalo Higuain on loan for the second half of the season, reuniting him with Maurizio Sarri – the coach who had once inspired his record-breaking campaign at Napoli.

While Higuain was no longer the near one-goal-a-game forward he once was, his five goals from 14 Premier League appearances were respectable compared to other strikers Chelsea have fielded in recent years.

Willy Caballero, meanwhile, proved that veteran Chelsea goalkeepers can indeed make it onto the pitch. After joining from Manchester City in 2017, he played 38 matches across four seasons.

It would have been 39 had Kepa Arrizabalaga not refused to be substituted in the 2019 League Cup final – a moment that remains infamous.

Caballero kept 14 clean sheets and conceded 42 goals in total during his Chelsea tenure.

Didier Drogba’s inclusion is based solely on his second spell at the club. The legendary striker had left Stamford Bridge at 34 in 2012, only to return two years later for a reunion with Jose Mourinho – a manager known for favouring his loyal players.

The return yielded another Premier League title in 2014–15, with Drogba contributing four goals in 28 league appearances.

That was fewer than John Terry, but Drogba’s role had evolved; Diego Costa was the main frontman by then.

Across all competitions, Drogba made 40 appearances and scored seven goals in his second stint.

“I’m really happy because he was part of the other team, but he belongs also to this new Chelsea,” Mourinho said afterwards. “For these players to know him, train with him, live with him, play with him, share with him is fantastic. He was very, very good for these young people: Eden Hazard, Willian, Oscar. They learnt from a good example. His was a fantastic contribution this season.”

Olivier Giroud became Chelsea’s first signing directly from Arsenal since Ashley Cole in 2006 when he joined in January 2018.

The Frenchman proved to be a dependable forward, scoring 39 goals in 119 games and winning both the Europa League and Champions League with the Blues.

He remains Chelsea’s third-highest scorer in European competitions, behind only Drogba and Frank Lampard. During their 2020–21 Champions League triumph, Giroud led the club in goals in the tournament with six – four of which came in a single match.

Chelsea often rotated him with younger strikers – even Higuain, briefly – but Giroud consistently offered a solid option whenever called upon.

At the top of the list among Chelsea’s over-30 signings stands Thiago Silva, who defied expectations after joining from Paris Saint-Germain in 2020.

He arrived with a big reputation but was far older than what Chelsea or most elite Premier League sides typically target.

Yet, Silva proved exceptional, remaining in peak physical condition and producing four outstanding seasons in blue, winning the Champions League in his first.

With over 150 appearances to his name, the Brazilian centre-back was a commanding presence and a model professional throughout his time at the club.

He was named Chelsea’s Player of the Season for 2022–23, his third campaign, further highlighting his enduring quality.

And remarkably, at 41, he continues to play – having just sealed an emotional return to Fluminense.