Bruno Fernandes calls Roy Keane a liar

Manchester United ended the 2025/26 campaign with plenty of positives after securing third place in the Premier League and returning to the Champions League under Michael Carrick.

A huge reason behind their success this season has been the performances of captain Bruno Fernandes, who has once again proven why he remains one of the most influential midfielders in world football.

The Portuguese international capped off his campaign by breaking the Premier League single-season assist record on the final day against Brighton & Hove Albion when his cross for Patrick Dorgu produced his 21st assist of the season.

Bruno Fernandes had already equalled the previous record held jointly by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne during United’s clash against Nottingham Forest.

Despite the achievement, though, the United captain found himself at the centre of criticism from former club captain Roy Keane.

Keane took issue with comments Fernandes made after the Forest game and suggested the midfielder cared more about chasing an assist record than winning matches.

Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Keane said: “What I heard at United at the weekend, honestly, I was raging with it.

“The whole chat about his assists… Everyone, the players were [talking about it], the game was about his assists. That’s the whole thing.

“After the game he got interviewed and he said, the captain of Manchester United, said ‘A few times, I probably should have… shot but I made the passes.’

“Wow. How can your mindset be not to win the match but be about an individual record?”

Bruno Fernandes labels Roy Keane a liar

Fernandes has now responded publicly to those comments and admitted he was frustrated by how his words were interpreted.

Speaking to Steven Bartlett on the Diary of the CEO podcast on YouTube, the United midfielder explained: “I don’t mind criticism. I always take criticism from everyone and never reply to anyone whatsoever.

“People have an opinion, they think it’s good, bad or whatever.

“What I don’t like is when people lie about things, and in this case, what you said about Roy Keane, basically, what he said is a lie.

“Luckily for me everything is on record, imagine if it wasn’t, then people will think Bruno is always the guy going for the assist.

“I even asked Ole his number to text him to have a word with him, to say ‘I don’t mind the criticism, I don’t like when people lie about the things that I say’ because this goes over the top of the things I think are acceptable.”

Fernandes revealed he even contacted former United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær to get Keane’s number so the pair could discuss the matter directly.

The reaction comes during what has arguably been the best individual season of Fernandes’ career.

Alongside breaking the assist record, the 31-year-old has already collected the FWA Footballer of the Year award, the Premier League Player of the Season prize and the Coca-Cola Playmaker of the Season award after leading Carrick’s side back into Europe’s elite competition.