Position: right winger
Born: January 23, 1969, Kirovohrad, Ukraine (then USSR)
Weight: 72 kg
Height: 178 cm
Caps/goals for Russia: 52/8 (incl. 23/3 for USSR)
Consecutive clubs:

year team games goals

19?? Zirka (Kirovohrad, UKR) ? ?
19?? Dynamo (Kyiv, UKR) ? ?
19?? Shakhtar (Donetsk, UKR) ? ?
1991-95 Manchester United (ENG) ? ?
1995-96 Everton (ENG) ? 15
1997- Fiorentina (ITA)


The best Russian export

The 27 year-old began his footballing career at the age of 15 when he attended a soccer school in Kharkov. He returned home to join the local side Kirovograd Star before Dynamo Kiev spotted his talent and signed him. When Donetsk came in for him, Andrei had little hesitation about leaving to join the team he supported as a boy.

Kanchelskis signed for United in March 1991 after a week's trial. Ferguson paid ё650,000 to secure his services from Donetsk.

The Russian international winger finally signed from Manchester Utd for ё5m in August 1995. The protracted deal was finally resolved when the two clubs agreed to split ё1.14m owed to Ukrainian club Shakytor Donetsk under a sell-on clause. Kanchelskis left Old Trafford in acrimonious circumstances after stories of a falling-out with United manager Alex Ferguson appeared daily in the newspapers. It's hard to see why Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson let him go to Everton in the summer.

Already an Under-21 international, Kanchelskis won his first senior cap when he came on as a substitute against Poland in August 1989. When the Soviet Union collapsed, he had the opportunity to play for the Ukraine, Russia or Lithuania where his father was born. He chose Russia. He had already played for the old USSR and CIS teams, appearing for the CIS in the 1992 European Championships in Sweden.

A disagreement with Russia's national coach led to Kanchelskis' self-imposed exclusion from the 1994 World Cup squad.

Kanchelskis' Football League debut came at Crystal Palace in May 1991. He established himself in the United side the following season and was a member of the team which defeated Nottingham Forest 1-0 in the 1992 League Cup Final.

The Ukrainian struggled to hold down a regular place the following season, however, as United won the title for the first time since 1967. Most of his 27 League appearances came as substitute. The following season United won the double but Kanchelskis' joy was dampened by his dismissal for deliberate handball in the League Cup Final defeat by Aston Villa.

Because of the transfer dispute, Kanchelskis missed Everton's opening League games last season, making his debut against Southampton on August 26. He scored his first Everton goals in the 2-0 derby win over Liverpool at Anfield.

He finished the season with 17 Premiership goals, Everton's top scorer incuding a magnificent hat-trick against Sheffield Wednesday.

Kanchelskis played in Euro 96, but again had a disagrement with the Russian management after criticising the team selection.