Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has praised the "character" of his former player Gary Neville.

The former full-back now works as a pundit for Sky Sports, as well as a member of the coaching staff with the England national team following his retirement from football in 2011.

When asked about Neville during an interview with US network PBS, Ferguson said: "Fantastic character. Gary gets up every morning at 6am, reads every newspaper. He wants to know what's going on in the world and more about everything, you know.

"He's such a successful person. He's no genius, but he's really good, really good. He's also doing his very own business."

Neville is poised to launch a restaurant and hotel with current United player-coach Ryan Giggs.