When the young Kanchelskis left for England, he did not yet know with which team he would sign his new contract. The only thing his agent had told him was: 'They want you in Manchester'. He did not know more. Once he arrived, he was taken to Old Trafford and realised that he would play with the Red Devils.
At that moment - it was spring 1991 - Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United were not yet the legendary team they would become in the following years, thanks in part to the goals and forays of the Soviet right winger, who at the end of the 1994/95 season won the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year, beating the likes of Peter Schmeichel, Paul Ince, Ryan Giggs, Mark Hughes, Roy Keane and, among others, a certain Eric Cantona, the most histrionic of his teammates.
During that brilliant campaign, Kanchelskis also scored a hat-trick in the Manchester derby and was carried off in triumph by Cantona himself.
Well, today is the 30th anniversary of one of the most controversial and, at the same time, iconic episodes in modern football: the karate kick delivered by The King to a Crystal Palace fan: 'I played that match, I remember it well'.
What does Andrey Kanchelskis do today?
"I coach Dynamo Bryansk, a Russian second-division football team."
And what's more, you had the enormous privilege of learning from two legends, a Colonel and a Sir: Valery Lobanovskyi and Alex Ferguson.
"I was lucky that they both liked the 4-4-2 and playing on the wings. Adapting to United was natural. And they were not only similar in their tactical ideas, they also had two very similar personalities.
"They both played to win. To win, to win: only and always to win. As far as training was concerned, however, they were different because in the USSR, as in Italy, we often had two sessions a day and not just during summer training. In England only one."
And off the pitch, how did they relate to the players?
"Ferguson was a different man depending on the moment: there was one Ferguson before the game, another during and another after.
"Before the match, the concentration was maximum. During, he was very, very aggressive, very hard, he gave a lot of instructions.
"Afterwards, he would laugh, play cards and sometimes drink wine: he likes red wine very much. Lobanovskyi, in the years I spent at Dinamo Kiev, was more rigid. Even off the field, he didn't like to have relationships with players'."
It was Ferguson himself who wanted you at United.
"He had probably seen me play in the national team or with Shakhtar Donetsk. I still remember my agent saying 'Andre, an English team is interested in you'. And I said 'Perfect, I'm pleased'.
"When I arrived in Manchester they first signed me for two years and then for another five'."
You had just turned 22 and the world was not as globalised as it is now.
"It was incredible. I remember that time because United was the first club I played with abroad. The USSR was a great country, but then I moved to a different country to my own.
"Many of us did that in those years: Shalimov, Kolyvanov and Simutenkov went to Italy. There were so many great Russian footballers playing in big clubs and I had Manchester.
"I was very lucky and for that I will never stop thanking everyone: from the club, which I consider the biggest in Europe, to Sir Alex Ferguson for wanting me.
What did it mean for you to be at the same club as an icon like Eric Cantona?
"A special person, a French guy with a great personality. As a player I would describe him as 'sparkling'. The opponents were always provoking him on the pitch.
"They were always insulting him. And of course, as happened to Zidane with Materazzi, he would sometimes react."
We remember him well. It is exactly 30 years since his karate chop on the Crystal Palace fan. You played that match.
"I remember it well, we were away. Eric, as I said, was bubbly on the pitch. And even that time, some players provoked him.
"However, after he was sent off, he was heading towards the locker room, but some fans kept insulting him and his family and, at that point, he threw that kung-fu kick at one of them. I remember everything as if it were today."
What happened at the end of the match?
"We were all sad. Nobody said anything to him though, nobody criticised him. Not even Alex Ferguson who, at that moment, simply said 'OK, it's already in the past. Let's go back to Manchester'.
"We travelled by bus and the next day Ferguson spoke to Cantona, but only to him, in another room. Nobody knows what they said to each other."
What does he say about it after so many years?
"It is a moment that is part of life. The Crystal Palace players insulted him and pelted him with tackles. The fans in England are closer to the pitch than in Italy: they are one metre away with no barriers, they practically shout in your face insulting you and your family... If we add to all this his being 'bubbly', what happened happened."
Why did you decide to leave United? Did you regret it?
"It's a long story, a bad story. I wanted to stay at Manchester United, but I had a little problem with a young doctor who didn't agree on an operation I should have undergone.
"I had to stay, but I'm still happy because, after a great season at Everton, I moved to Fiorentina and had other great moments in Italy."
Injuries, however, also plagued you in Florence.
'Yes, first Taribo West against Inter and then Pagliuca against Italy. But I have great memories of those years and of Italy. Florence is a beautiful city, the most beautiful in Europe: Michelangelo, the Uffizi, the many squares and the good people I met.
"I enjoyed a different football with a different mentality while living a different life. It was a very important stage for me because now that I coach I remember what I learned from Lobanowskyi, Ferguson, Ranieri, Malesani... Yes, it's true, I was unlucky but injuries are part of football."
And, then, at that time, Serie A was probably more important than the Premier League.
"Without a doubt. In Italy there was Ronaldo at Inter, Zidane and Del Piero at Juventus, Baresi, Maldini and Desailly at AC Milan.
"It was absolutely the number one league in Europe. The Sampdoria of Mancini, Vialli and Mihajlovic. I repeat, I consider myself very, very lucky. When I moved to Italy, I enjoyed myself even if I didn't play all the matches I wanted to play."
Who is the strongest footballer you have played against?
"Paolo Maldini, an absolutely brilliant left defender. I played a lot of games against him. He was great, a very good defender'.
And among your teammates?
"There are so many... Batistuta, Rui Costa and Toldo in Italy. In England, Cantona, Mark Hughes, Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs and even Bryan Robson, a legend."
In Scotland, at Rangers, you also played with Caniggia, another 'sparkling' footballer.
"A great player with a great personality. He was incredible: a very good person, very intelligent. And although he was already 35 years old he was very fast. We had a lot of fun at Rangers. Scottish people are different than English people. A bit like what happens in Italy between people living in the south or the north of Italy."
One of your last adventures was in Arabia, at Al Hilal. Today the Saudi Pro League is very fashionable, do you think football in Arabia really has a future?
'When I played there it was different. Today there is a lot of money.... The Arab sheikhs, however, are not interested in football.
"Players move to Saudi Arabia not to play football, but only for the money. Or, at least, first and foremost for the money. Usually players put football first and money second, while those who go there think first about money and then about football. And that's not good."
