Chelsea have been alerted of Brazilian striker Hulks availability after he threatened to leave Zenit St Petersburg following a touchline row with coach Luciano Spalletti.

The forward who cost the Russian club £39.5million in the summer was substituted 10 minutes from time in his sides 1-0 win at AC Milan last night, refusing to shake his manager’s hand on the way to the bench.

The raging Hulk then directed a ‘finger gesture’ towards Spalletti , which the Italian responded to with a simple head shake and wag of the finger.

“If the situation with Spalletti is not solved, in January I will leave,” The Metro quoted Hulk as saying.

Chelsea who were chasing his signature in the summer will closely monitor the situation, while a host of Serie A clubs are also said to be interested if Hulk does become available.

He scored  prolifically for former club Porto however the-26-year-old has found it tough to adapt to life in Russia, scoring just three times in 13 games so far for Zenit, while his huge salary has caused friction with fellow team mates.

Captain Igor Denisov was demoted to the clubs youth team due to his vocal protests on the matter.

This isn’t the first time we have seen a incident such as this in Football, Carlos Tevez and Roberto Mancini being a recent example. That situation has managed to work itself out but it remains to be seen whether the same will happen in Hulk’s case.