Chelsea’s new chief executive has told his players to “shoot for the stars” and set them a goal of winning the Champions League twice in five years.

Ron Gourlay used his first interview since being appointed seven weeks ago to give a reminder of the standards the club are expected to attain.

He also confirmed that Chelsea will stay at Stamford Bridge for the foreseeable future, but admitted that they were prepared to sell the naming rights to the stadium.

His predecessor, Peter Kenyon, was widely mocked for setting a target of winning two European Cups in a decade. Gourlay, though, despite claiming that Chelsea will become less brash under his leadership, emphasised that the club’s ambitions remain undiminished.

Chelsea have developed into the most consistent side in the Champions League since Roman Abramovich’s takeover, reaching the semi-finals in five of the past six years, although winning the competition twice before 2014 still represents a tall order.

Barcelona have landed the Champions League twice in the past four seasons after enduring a 14-year gap between their first and second titles, while Manchester United had to wait 31 years after their initial triumph to be crowned European champions for a second time. Chelsea have never won it, but Gourlay is undeterred.

“In our ten-year plan there were two Champions Leagues in there and we’ve been very unlucky,” he said. “Over the next five years we’ve still got to shoot for the stars.

“With no disrespect to the competition, which is an incredibly high standard, I’d still like to think we can win the Champions League twice in the next five years. That may sound aggressive but I think we can do it.

“We’re competing for every competition we enter and for the success of the football club going forward, you have to win trophies consistently. You can’t win the Premier League one year and slip away for three years. You’ve got to be pushing every time.”

Gourlay conceded that Carlo Ancelotti would come under pressure if Chelsea failed to win trophies this season — the Italian is their fifth manager in 2½ years — but gave his full backing to the man who has built up a two-point lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League before Sunday’s match at home to Manchester United.

“We go in every season to win trophies,” Gourlay said. “We put pressure on ourselves. There’s probably more pressure from ourselves as a board of directors than from the owner. That doesn’t mean to say we’re going to sack the manager. I don’t think I’ll find myself in that position.”

He adopted a more realistic stance on the financial aspects of Chelsea’s business plan, admitting for the first time that they will not reach their target of breaking even by next year.

Chelsea recorded a loss of £65.7 million in the financial year ending June 30, 2008, and with the club’s £148.5 million wage bill projected to continue rising, the main task facing the board is to increase revenues.

Chelsea’s search for a new home in the local area has been abandoned, but they believe that they could make between £8-10 million annually for a ten-year naming rights deal that would follow the controversial example set by Newcastle United this week by keeping the words Stamford Bridge in the title.

“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,” Gourlay said.