Former Manchester United full-back Phil Neville believes the club's next owners must invest in the club.

The Red Devils are up for sale, with bids from petrochemicals company INEOS and the Qatar royal family going into the Glazers last week.

Neville is not sure who will win the bidding war, and did not comment on the possible owners, but did reiterate that everything to do with United needed investment.

Speaking in an interview with the Athletic, he said: "I feel as if Man United are getting themselves on track on the pitch. Feels like there's an identity forming. (Erik ten Hag) has had to make some big decisions and he's made them well.

"I think the identity on the pitch has taken a lot of pressure away from the selling of the club off the pitch. The ground needs redeveloping, the training ground needs redeveloping, the infrastructure of the club needs major investment. And the team needs investment. And it's a big piece of work there for someone.

"(When it comes to a potential buyer,) fundamentally you have to keep what's great about Manchester United. Manchester United's history is the most important thing to that football club. If you ignore that history you'll not have success, as has been proven in the last 10, 15 years.

"You go away from the history of what makes that club tick - young players, young development players, style of football, type of player, profile of player. It's never been a club that's really gone for the 'galactico.' The football has always been the most important thing. Now what I think Manchester United have is they have football at the front of everybody's mind.

"What happens with foreign investment is that because they're not from this area, they don't understand what's needed culturally. And the culture is the most important thing."