- Former Man Utd striker reveals most outspoken teammate
- Gary Neville’s post-United playing career
- Is the former right-back too outspoken?
Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has revealed which teammate was the most outspoken during his time at the club.
Over four years at the club, the Bulgarian featured in 149 games for United, scoring 53 goals, and went on to win four major honours. He also claimed the 2010/11 Premier League Golden Boot after netting 20 goals across 32 matches.
The Bulgarian proved to be an integral cog in the machine for a United side that secured their 19th league title, eclipsing Liverpool in the process.
Berbatov is remembered as a silky, flair-filled footballer, possessing one of the finest first touches the game has ever seen.
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Dimitar Berbatov on ‘outspoken’ Gary Neville
Speaking on Konstantin Valkov’s Office podcast, Berbatov opened up on how Neville voiced his opinion the most in the dressing room, and was the opposite of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.
“The quiet one was Ryan Giggs, even quieter was Paul Scholes, and the loudest most outspoken one was Gary Neville. They were the people who had been there the longest. They spent their whole careers there.”
He added:
“Later on there was Wayne Rooney, Ronaldo, Rio, and at the back there was Van der Sar, who was also one of the most experienced players in the team.
Berbatov made 40 appearances with Neville in Ferguson’s dominant United team. This came during the back end of the former club captain’s illustrious playing career.
Looking at Neville’s post-playing career, it is hardly surprising that Berbatov labelled him the most outspoken player at United.
For one, there is the business empire he has built over the past decade, which has reportedly elevated his net worth to between £70 and £100 million.
Despite never feeling comfortable with the title of ‘entrepreneur’—he said it made his skin crawl on Stephen Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast in 2022—Neville is a director of 53 UK companies and has held 80 directorships in total.
He acts as a controlling owner of Salford City, alongside fellow members of the Class of 92′, is the sole director of Tiger Sports Management—a company set up with his father in 1996—and has numerous fingers in property pies across the country.
The foundations for much of this business portfolio came during his playing days, with the former England international struggling to keep his dealings hidden from Sir Alex Ferguson.
“He would have seen it as a distraction,” Neville says, recalling sneaking into the showers to make and take business calls away from the Scot’s prying eyes.
“Physically I accepted I had to have a rest [after training], but mentally I needed to be stimulated.”
But the businessman’s dealings are not the only thing that draws attention his way.
Gary Neville’s controversial post-United career
In recent years, his relationship with United fans has grown increasingly sour, with many believing his punditry style is anti-United, contradictory, and overly drenched in nostalgia for his own playing days rather than the modern era.
Earlier this month on The Overlap—Neville’s podcast and YouTube series which has plunged into controversy over the past six months, with former United players seemingly taking swipes at the current team almost every week—the panel consisting of Jill Scott, Ian Wright, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, and Neville discussed the possible permanent appointment of Michael Carrick.
Whilst Scott and Wright—players who predominantly featured for rivals Manchester City and Arsenal—spoke positively about the then interim manager, the United trio carried a far more sceptical tone, with Neville going as far as to say: “If you’re Pep or Arteta and it’s announced Carrick’s the manager, will they be sitting there going… would they be fearful of him?”
It is this direct controversy that has irritated sections of the United fanbase, with many comparing it to how he treated Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when he first received the job.
“I’m delighted for Ole first and foremost. When he was first appointed, I never envisaged that he would get the permanent job. I remember at the time, I was talking about Mauricio Pochettino being the No 1 candidate and Ole just coming in to steady the ship and get everyone happy again, but the results and performances have been beyond incredible really—almost flawless.”
This was not all Neville said. “Ole has bought a level of happiness and excitement back to the fans, which is at least something because it has been difficult to watch over the last three or four years.”
Neville even directly told Solskjaer he deserved the job after the Norwegian oversaw a 3-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain. He said:
“How long would you like on your contract? What would your salary be? Where would you like the statue?” (The board) have only got one decision to make, haven’t they?”
That fine line of contradiction follows a significant portion of his punditry claims.
In United’s recent 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest, Neville was left gobsmacked that Matheus Cunha’s goal was allowed to stand after the ball inadvertently struck Bryan Mbeumo’s hand.
Whilst I will be the first to admit that I do not think the goal should have stood, Neville reacted on commentary as though an act of footballing injustice had struck Forest down entirely. As if this singular moment was enough to banish the Midlands club from existence altogether.
Neville is an extremely business-savvy man, with an exceptional football career behind him. But it increasingly feels as though his outspoken nature has arrived at the worst possible time for supporters of his former club, with many now growing tired of the constant noise surrounding one of their own.
For years, Neville embodied the snarling, uncompromising spirit that Ferguson built Manchester United upon. A captain without the armband. A player who bled for the badge every single week.
Yet now, for some supporters, that relentless voice has become exhausting rather than inspiring. For many United fans, the line between passionate pundit and perpetual critic is becoming increasingly blurred.
