Neville, 48, will join regular Dragons Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, Sara Davies and Steven Bartlett for episodes of series 21.

"I am excited to join the Dragons, and to meet the entrepreneurs brave enough to face us in the Den," said Neville.

"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.

"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."

US-based fashion mogul Emma Grede will also enter the Den as a guest judge, with filming currently taking place in Manchester.

Also a football pundit and commentator, Neville is a co-owner of Salford City, two Manchester hotels and a production company, and along with other members of United's Class of '92, co-founded University Academy 92 (UA92).

He has also been a property developer since he was 21, and his latest projects include the £200m St Michael's development in Manchester.