Last updated on .From the section Football

Leonid Slutsky retired from professional football aged 19 due to a knee injury

Ex-Russia boss Leonid Slutsky, who has been strongly linked with Hull City, says Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is helping him get a job in England.

Slutsky, 46, is reportedly set to take charge at Hull, external-link who were relegated from the Premier League last season.

The former CSKA Moscow manager says he is Russian billionaire Abramovich's current "project" and has been learning English for five months.

"He is my friend and he tries to help me in the situation," said Slutsky.

Marco Silva resigned as Hull boss in May following the club's relegation to the Championship and Slutsky has emerged as the leading contender to replace the Portuguese, who has since taken over at Watford.

Slutsky won three Russian titles during his seven-year stint at CSKA, while also leading Russia to Euro 2016 after taking over from former England boss Fabio Capello.

"I have studied English and watched a lot of football matches," he told BBC World Service. "Not only Premier League... Championship and League One."

Slutsky said Abramovich, who has owned Premier League champions Chelsea since 2003, has done a lot to "help Russian football".

"He had an academy in Russia, invested a lot for infrastructure in Russian football," he added.

"He built about 300 artificial pitches and was sponsor of the Russian national team.

"Today, his project in Russian football is me."

Asked which English word he has learned that means the most to him, Slutsky added: "For me, in my situation today, maybe very important is 'dream'."