The name Stamford Bridge would be retained in any deal and it is understood Chelsea are looking for a blue-chip partner for a long-term contract between seven and 10 years.

Chelsea are aware that the move will be a sensitive issue with fans but want to assure them that there will be no chance of the ground being renamed in a similar fashion to Newcastle United.

The Coca-Cola Championship side's stadium has been re-named sportsdirect.com@St. James' Park until the end of the season.

The Blues cannot increase the capacity of their current home and fans have reservations about any move away from the Bridge.

That puts Chelsea at a disadvantage to their rivals when it comes to financial income from home games.

Arsenal earn around £3million per match at the Emirates while Chelsea's income is, on average, £2.2million.

The sale of naming rights is a way of making up that shortfall.

New Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay revealed the club would consider naming rights in an exclusive interview with Chelsea TV.

The interview, to be shown later tonight, is his first since succeeding Peter Kenyon.

"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," said Gourlay.

"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.

"What we are not prepared to happen, and I am sure our fans will appreciate this, is to allow our rival clubs in England and Europe to gain a competitive advantage over us in terms of the revenue they can generate through either expanding the capacity of their existing stadia or moving to a new stadium, and then invest that upside in their team or the club.

"Those possibilities are not open to Chelsea for the foreseeable future because of the restrictions in expanding our stadium and the issues around finding a new site, so that means we have to be creative and look at our sponsorship architecture and see if we can create new value and new opportunities that keeps us competitive.

"Our stadium does very well at the moment in competing with the bigger, and in some cases newer, stadia of our rivals, but they have more possibilities in the long run than we do.

"We cannot sell any more tickets to Chelsea fans as we sell out virtually every match within our limited capacity.

"The match-day experience at Stamford Bridge and the relationship with our fans has improved greatly through initiatives such as our flexible ticketing policy for all cup matches, the freezing of non-hospitality ticket prices for the last four seasons for Premier League matches and subsidised or free travel to a significant number of away games.

"But we need to keep evolving and move the business forward to support the football side and the club generally. This is a potentially realistic way of doing that."

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Gourlay also revealed that talks have started with Joe Cole over a new contract.

"Joe's looking to negotiate his new contract for the next four to five years," Gourlay said.

"That process has started and Joe has made it very, very clear he wants to stay with the football club.

"I am sure over the coming months we will be able to work something out."

The current leaders of the Barclays Premier League are appealing FIFA's ban on signing players until 2011, imposed in September after they were found guilty of illegally inducing French player Gael Kakuta to join them.

Gourlay feels Chelsea have "a strong case" and, asked about his role in potential transfer targets, he added: "We have a football club board.

"If there is an opportunity to buy a player who's key to taking us forward and fits in with the team we will decide between the group who's best on a case-by-case situation to deal with that.

"The next five years are going to be very, very challenging. We entered into a 10-year plan, we've set our goals very high, I would like to see us keep playing the exciting football we are doing - I know that's close to the owner's heart - and we've got to win things.

"At boardroom level we've got to continue winning trophies. There is an expectation at Chelsea every time we cross the white line. We are expected to be in the mix in every competition we enter.

"That's how we have positioned ourselves as a football club and that's how we are portrayed. There's a lot of energy around the place and we are in a good position to support the coach and deliver the things we need to deliver."