Andrei Kancelskis spent four years at United, winning two league titles, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the European Super Cup. In 1995, he became Everton’s record signing at £5 million, making way for the kids that would never win anything at United.
“I still have a lot of friends in Manchester and my son was born there,” said Kanchelskis. “To be honest, United are still my life and will always be in my heart. I have so many great memories from my time there, including winning the league and cup double in 1994. Because I live in Moscow I was able to go to watch United play Chelsea in the Champions League final in 2008. I also went to the team hotel before United played CSKA Moscow a year ago. It was good to meet up with Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Sir Alex Ferguson. The English games are shown on television in Russia and I’m sure United will win this next derby because they’re the better team and have the better players.”
Ten years ago today, Kanchelskis scored a hattrick in the Manchester derby, with United winning 5-0.
“I will never forget that match,” he continued. “Eric Cantona opened the scoring and I got my first goal just before half-time. I scored again just after the break and managed to complete my hat-trick just before the end. Mark Hughes also got a goal. I remember that Paul Ince and Cantona played really well and it was a superb occasion for the fans. They were terrific matches to be part of and I knew just how much they mattered to the fans.”
