Kanchelskis admits forcing his way out of Man Utd to join Everton was a mistake

Andrei Kanchelskis has admitted that forcing a £5m transfer to Everton in 1995, against Sir Alex Ferguson’s explicit wishes, was one of the biggest mistakes of his career — a confession that carries extra weight ahead of the two clubs’ upcoming meeting at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The Russian winger arrived at Manchester United from Shakhtar Donetsk in 1991 as a virtual unknown and quickly became a fan favourite at Old Trafford. Over four years he made 161 appearances across all competitions, scoring 36 goals, and was a key figure in United’s back-to-back Premier League title wins in 1993 and 1994.

His finest individual season came in 1994/95, when he scored 15 goals in 39 games, but United’s last-day title loss to Blackburn Rovers that campaign proved to be a turning point. A reported breakdown in his relationship with Ferguson, combined with a dispute involving a club physio, led Kanchelskis to publicly demand an exit — leaving Ferguson visibly baffled.

“You wonder if someone has got to the boy,” Ferguson said at the time. “He’s been told he’s valued here but he seems confused.”

Decades on, Kanchelskis is candid about the error. “Fergie tried to persuade me to stay at United,” he told FourFourTwo. “Deciding to leave was a mistake, but when I left David Beckham started to play. If I’d stayed, maybe nobody would have heard the name David Beckham,” he added with a laugh.

Ferguson ultimately replaced Kanchelskis with Beckham, and the club went on to win five of the next six league titles, culminating in the historic Treble in 1998/99. Kanchelskis also revealed the depth of Ferguson’s frustration at the time, telling Sport-Express: “When I left United, Ferguson was ready to apologise to the whole team.”

At Everton, Kanchelskis spent two years and scored 21 goals in 62 games, earning cult-hero status at Goodison Park despite winning no silverware. He left the Toffees for Fiorentina, bringing his brief but memorable spell on Merseyside to a close.