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Andrei Kanchelskis
Personal information
Full name	Andrei Antanasovich Kanchelskis
Date of birth	January 23, 1969 (age 38)
Place of birth	Kirovograd, USSR (Ukraine)
Nickname	KanKan
Playing position	Retired
Club information
Current club	FC Krylya Sovetov Samara
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1988-1990 1990-1991 1991-1995 1995-1996 1996-1998 1998-2002 2001 2003 2003 2004-2005 2006	Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Manchester United Everton Fiorentina Rangers →Manchester City (loan) Southampton Al-Hilal FC Saturn Moscow Krylya Sovetov	022 0(1) 021 0(3) 123 (28) 052 (20) 026 0(2) 076 (13) 010 0(0) 001 0(0) 032 0(3) 012 0(1)
National team2
1989-1991 1992 1992-1998	USSR CIS Russia	17 0(3) 06 0(0) 36 0(5)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 February 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 13:20, 7 December 2006 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Andrei Antanasovich Kanchelskis (Russian: Андрей Антанасович Канчельскис born January 23, 1969 in Kirovograd) is a former Ukrainian football midfielder who claimed Russian citizenship after the fall of the Soviet Union. He played for a number of teams, most notably Manchester United, Everton and Rangers. He was a dynamic goal scoring winger with great pace.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Early career 1.2 Manchester United 1.3 Everton 1.4 Later career 2 International career 3 Controversy 4 External links

Kanchelskis started his career with Dynamo Kyiv in 1988 and then went to Shakhtar Donetsk in 1990.

He signed for Manchester United one year later and made his debut for United on May 11, 1991 against Crystal Palace. He helped the club win two Premiership titles (1993 and 1994) as well as a FA Cup title in 1994. He also appeared in the 1994 League Cup final, but was sent off for handball as United lost to Aston Villa. He played 158 times for United, scoring 36 goals.

Many people believe that had Andrei Kanchelskis not abruptly left Manchester United, David Beckham may not have had such a successful career at Manchester United.^{[citation needed]}

Kanchelskis was sold to the then FA Cup holders, Everton in 1995. His first season with the club saw him score 16 goals to cap a season of excellent performances which made him arguably the best winger in the country. He rapidly gained cult status with Everton fans especially after his two goals against rivals Liverpool at Anfield and his performances helped the club to a 6th place finish, their best in years. Kanchelskis failed to reproduce that form in his second season and was sold mid-way through for £8million to Fiorentina.

At Fiorentina he again struggled to find his best form and later went on to play for Rangers (1998-2002), Manchester City (2001) (on loan), Southampton (2003), Al-Hilal (2003), FC Saturn Moscow (2004-2005), and FC Krylya Sovetov Samara (2006). After leaving Krylya Sovetov he was without a contract and despite expressing interest in continuing playing, he retired on February 12, 2007.[1]

Although Kanchelskis was born in Ukraine and his heritage is Lithuanian, he chose to represent Russia. He was capped 23 times for the Soviet Union national team, scoring three goals, and 36 times for Russia, scoring five goals. After leading a player boycott against head coach Pavel Sadyrin and therefore missing the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the only senior major international tournaments Kanchelskis played in were Euro 92 and Euro 96.

In his autobiography, Managing My Life, Sir Alex Ferguson alleged that he was offered a £40,000 bribe to sell Kanchelskis. When this was refused, he claimed that death threats were made to Martin Edwards, then chairman of Manchester United. There was no suggestion that Everton or Kanchelskis were aware of either the bribe or the threats[2].

• Andrei Kanchelskis career stats at Soccerbase
• Andrei Kanchelskis on RSSSF-site