GARY NEVILLE has blasted the Premier League's multi-millionaire stars for stupidly wasting money on agents.
Manchester United's club captain is infuriated by mollycoddled players who pay their agents hundreds of thousands of pounds a year just to set up a bank account - or buy them a fridge.

Neville was speaking just days after Alex Ferguson launched a similar attack on wealthy top-flight stars, branding them 'cocooned'.

The right-back, 34, said: "I completely agree with his sentiments. It is one of my pet hates when I see players who have agents that do everything for them.

"They don't know how to set up their own bank account, they don't know what they're spending their money on and they can't make their own decisions.

"Not every player is like that but some are totally dependent on agents and advisers. A footballer should sit down and negotiate with a club, even if his agent is sitting with him.

"It is in a player's best interests to be there and see what is going on."

Neville revealed a player can pay an agent up to 15 per cent of his wages to represent him.

That means a star on £100,000 a week would pay an agent £15,000 every seven days - which works out at a whopping £780,000 a year.

Neville added: "The idea of allowing someone to look after your financial and professional existence is something I cannot agree with.

"Some agents do a good job but there are others who stifle and mollycoddle players.

"Some agents will come into a player's life when he is 20, leave his life at 34 and never want to know him again.

"Every footballer needs an adviser at some point. But a player doesn't need to pay between five and 15 per cent of his wages to a guy to set up a bank account, buy him a new fridge, or ask his club's chief executive for a pay rise."

A court has heard that former Newcastle United striker Obafemi Martins was broke despite earning £75,000-a-week wages.


The 25-year-old is being sued by his former agent, Chris Nathaniel, whose company NVA claims it gave him cash advances and helped manage aspects of his life.


NVA says he owes a £284,000 fee for the managing of his finances and the court heard the Wolfsburg striker treated Nathaniel in "a Jeeves role".


It is claimed that Martins was constantly overdrawn, regularly blowing £40,000 in a weekend and then drawing out another £25,000 on Monday.


Robert Tennink, the lawyer representing NVA, told the High Court in London: "Despite earning these vast sums of money he was constantly overdrawn."


Martins, who signed for Newcastle in 2006, is fighting the claim although was not in court yesterday.