Kanchelskis says Russia no longer produces players of the required standard.
Discussing former long-term United trialist Sergei Pinyaev, of Lokomotiv Moscow, Kanchelskis told Sport-Express: "Will Pinyaev be able to attract the attention of Manchester United again?
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"The academy where he was and the senior team are two different things.
"We need to ask the head coach of Lokomotiv why they couldn't boost Pinyaev to the level of an RPL star. I think it's unlikely that after me anyone (anyothor Russian) will play for Manchester United in England and say: 'I was in Manchester'.
"I was there too, but I played there. And the fact that he was there does not mean that he played for Manchester."
United do have the Ibragimov brothers on the books: Amir, Gazik and Mohammed who are all Russian nationals.