For my take that there is no inflation theory in reality the UNIVERSE WILL HAVE TO BE OLDER. How much older is a problem. At what density would the mass of the Universe have to be for how long before light could escape? If mass can not be created or destroyed the problem is easier than if matter were being created at the same time.
the Universe could be twice as old as we believed.

30 years ago we thought the Universe was 20 billion years old. With microwave background radiation, we made it 13.8 billion. Now the Webb shows the earliest galaxy as well formed as the Milky Way which is 13.6 billion years old. My bet is on 28 billion years.