Chelsea are ready to sell the naming rights to Stamford Bridge for £100million.
Ron Gourlay, who took over from Peter Kenyon as chief executive this week, said the club has no plans to move from their stadium or increase its 41,800-capacity.
But despite being owned by one of the world's richest men in Roman Abramovich, he said the was willing to talk to companies about sponsoring Stamford Bridge to help the club's bid to become self sufficient.
Gourlay said: "Retaining the heritage of the stadium is paramount to considering such a move but we think that is achievable and on that basis we would enter into discussions over naming rights with the right partner for Chelsea.
We understand that this is a sensitive issue for our fans and that is why we would keep the name Stamford Bridge in any deal."
Such deals are common in the United States, while Newcastle announced this week that their ground will be known as the sports-direct@St James' Park Stadium for the rest of the season.
Arsenal banked £100m for a 15-year sponsorship deal of the Emirates Stadium, including an eight-year shirt deal. Chelsea are expected to look for £10m a year over the next decade.
After losing £65.7m in the last published results to June 2008, Gourlay admitted Chelsea will not fulfil his predecessor's aim of breaking even by next year. "It won't happen soon," Gourlay said.
The 46-year-old re-stated Kenyon's desire to see Chelsea win the Champions League twice in the next five years. "That might sound aggressive but I do think we can still do it," he added. "Over the next five years we've still got to shoot for the stars."
But the softly-spoken Scot, who previously worked for Umbro and Manchester United, promised a less confrontational approach than Kenyon in the role.
"Everybody has a different style," said Gourlay. "People always say to me: 'You worked with Peter Kenyon for a long time', but we're two completely different personalities and I do things different.
"Hopefully, if there was brashness there then maybe you won't see as much brashness going forward. You'll still see as much energy, you'll probably see more will to win with realistic goals. We've learned a lot in the last five years."
> Posted by: Iconic Magazine
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