Steve Coppell made his name as a flying right winger with Manchester United.

Now the Albion boss has raised the intriguing possibility of one of his illustrious successors in that role at Old Trafford signing for the Seagulls.

Andrei Kanchelskis began training with Albion on Tuesday. A deal has not been discussed and Coppell has no intention of signing the 34-year-old at the moment.

But he cagily left the door ajar yesterday by revealing "if he becomes available it might just slot into place."

Kanchelskis played in Saudi Arabia for Al-Hilal from January to May after a fruitless stint with Southampton.

He has the option of another year with Al-Hilal, who hold his registration, but is keen to play in England again for family reasons.

Albion appear to be in the box seat at this stage. Kanchelskis has lived in East Grinstead for the last two-and-a-half years with his wife and two children, so it would certainly be a convenient move for him.

Coppell's predecessor Martin Hinshelwood wanted Kanchelskis to train with Albion this time last season. It never happened because of financial considerations but Coppell believes agreeing terms with Kanchelskis would not be a stumbling block now.

"At his age and with what he's done and the moves he's had for millions and millions of pounds I wouldn't have thought money would be too big a problem," he said.

"It's not as if he will be playing to make money but playing for tick over money because he just enjoys playing football, a bit like Dave Beasant."

Kanchelskis is relishing being a team player again after training by himself for the last two months.

"It's better to train with a team than alone," he said during a break between yesterday's double training session up at Falmer.

"It was only my second day, so I am a little bit stiff, but it's okay and I am enjoying it.

"There are some good players here and a good atmosphere. I hope to train here for two weeks and then we will have to see what happens.

"I had four or five months in Saudi with a good coach from Holland who has worked for Ajax and Werder Bremen, but it is too far for my wife.

"The kids are at school here and we like it in East Grinstead. It's a nice place."

Kanchelskis has generated transfers fees of nearly £20 million during his career.

He joined Manchester United for £650,000 from Shakhtar Donetsk in 1991 after starting with Dynamo Kiev.

The Ukrainian international was a crowd favourite at Old Trafford and helped Alex Ferguson's men to consecutive Premier League titles in 1992-93 and 1993-94.

Ipswich manager Joe Royle, a close friend of Coppell, was a great admirer of Kanchelskis. He first signed him for Everton for £5 million in 1995.

The much-travelled Kanchelskis went to Italy's Serie A with Fiorentina in 1997, then to Scotland with Glasgow Rangers.

Royle re-signed him on loan in January 2001 as Manchester City struggled in vain to avoid relegation from the Premiership.

Released by Rangers at the end of the 2001-2002 campaign, he impressed Sothampton manager Gordon Strachan so much in training last summer that he was given a contract on transfer deadline day in August but hardly got a look-in.

"I think I can play for two more years, but Premier League teams are looking for young players," Kanchelskis said. "There is not too much interest in old players now."

That is not the case at Albion's level and Kanchelskis has needed only a couple of training sessions to make Coppell think he may have something to offer.

"When you look at what he has won in the game you begin to see he has an awful lot going for him," Coppell said.

"When he is on the ball you can just see he is a good player.

"He's been there, done it, played on the highest stage, in Italy the lot. He's just a top quality player and he seems a good lad."