Gary Neville makes surprise admission about Glazer family's ownership of Manchester United

It's been an eventful few weeks for Gary Neville. With his decision to work at the Qatar World Cup being called into question by many, you'd probably forgive him for missing the recent news about the Glazer family signalling their intentions to sell Manchester United.

And yet, alongside his punditry duties in Qatar, the former United defender has found time to talk about the American owners, and even question the way he has spoken about the family since they first took over in 2005.

Sky Sports and ITV pundit Neville now claims that he should have spoken out against their ownership of the club a lot sooner, having become a notable critic of the Glazers in recent years.

In light of recent reports linking the family with an £8 million sale, it seems that Neville is taking stock over how he regarded the owners during their 17-year reign.

Writing in his Sky Sports column on Sunday (27 November), he said: "No player or member of staff ever spoke out against the leveraged takeover.

"When it happened we got on with winning trophies, winning the Champions League and winning Premier Leagues. And the club, to be fair, carried on being successful."

According to the 47-year-old, who continued playing for the club well after the Glazers took over, success at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson's tenure hid some of the fundamental issues at play with their ownership model.

Neville added: "I worked on the theory at the time that we could have worse owners. They were quite passive. I never saw any interference while I was at the club as a player.

"But when Sir Alex Ferguson left, it's then I started to realise they were only successful because of Sir Alex Ferguson. They haven't been able to develop a successful sporting project without him."

Alamy.

Neville continued, bemoaning the Glazer's neglect of the club when it comes to facilities: "They've taken dividends out, they've not developed the stadium, they've let the training ground go to ruin. They really are second-class when it comes to the status of infrastructure at the club and the facilities.

"I started to speak out about two or three years ago. Many fans will say I should have done it earlier and I can't disagree with them.

"I can have regrets about it all my life, but the reality is I have spoken out in the last two or three years quite a lot. I haven't enjoyed what I've seen. The signs were obviously there 15 years ago and most fans were right."