Knyazev began playing football with local side FC Metallurg Magnitogorsk.
Knyazev didn't feature regularly for KAMAZ, and he returned to Metallurg the following season.
[1] In 1997, Knyazev joined FC Rubin Kazan, then playing in the Russian Second Division.
He scored 25 league goals in his first season to lead the club to promotion to the Russian First Division.
This biographical article related to a Russian association football forward born in the 1970s is a stub.