Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has signed up to appear on the next series of the hit TV show, Dragon’s Den.
As reported by the BBC, Neville will join business moguls Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, Sara Davies and Steven Bartlett for episodes of series 21.
The former right-back has a strong business portfolio of his own, which includes interest in hospitality, sport, media and education.
Since retiring from football over a decade ago, Neville has become a strong personality in the media, airing his staunch views on football and politics as well as starting his business empire.
Neville spoke on his excitement for the new project which the BBC will hope for a wider demographic of viewers upon the announcement.
“I am excited to join the Dragons, and to meet the entrepreneurs brave enough to face us in the Den,” said Neville.
The former England international hopes his personal experience can help the budding entrepreneurs as they look for investment in their respective businesses.
“I hope my personal journey shows that you can take the experiences you’ve had in one part of your career and use them to do something entirely different and make it a success,” he said.
“Business is all about managing people and managing yourself and I’m looking forward to sharing my experience to help the entrepreneurs we’ll meet in the Den reach their potential,” he explained.
Neville’s no-nonsense approach should serve him well in his new role and it will be interesting to see how often he puts his money where his mouth is to help the candidates. Despite the recent liquidation of his Cafe Football enterprise, he maintains a portfolio of other successful businesses.
A legend at United, Neville chalked up over 600 appearances for the club and captaining the side for five years.
Neville also represented England on 85 occasions and is widely regarded as one of the best full-backs the country has ever produced.