Bruno Fernandes Calls Roy Keane’s Comments a “Lie” Over Assists Record Remarks

Bruno Fernandes has accused Roy Keane of fabricating his comments about the United captain’s pursuit of the Premier League assists record. Fernandes secured the outright season‑assists record with his 21st assist in Manchester United’s 3‑0 victory over Brighton.

The 31‑year‑old had matched the previous record – held jointly by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne – a week earlier in United’s 3‑2 win against Nottingham Forest. Keane suggested Fernandes was putting personal glory ahead of the team, describing him as the centre of a “circus act”.

On The Overlap podcast, Keane said: “After the Forest game he was interviewed and he said, ‘A few times I should have shot but I made the passes.’ How can a footballer go into a match thinking about an individual record? He won’t win trophies with that mindset.”

Fernandes’s actual post‑match remarks were: “There were probably moments today when I should have passed instead of shot. I’m very happy for the assist, but more than that I’m happy for the win and to finish the season on a high.”

Fernandes told The Diary of a CEO podcast that Keane had put “untrue words in my mouth”. He said, “I don’t mind criticism. I’ve always taken criticism from anyone and I never reply to anything. What I don’t like is when people lie about things. In this case, what Roy Keane said is a lie because either he heard a different interview or he invented something I never said, and luckily everything is on record.”

He continued, “I accept his criticism, whether he likes me as a player or not, but I don’t like him putting words in my mouth that were never said.”

Keane appeared to fuel the spat on Instagram, posting: “Too much attention makes a donkey think he’s a lion.”

Fernandes said he reached out to former United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær to obtain Keane’s phone number so he could address the matter directly. “I have always shown a great deal of respect for Roy Keane and everything he’s done for the club,” Fernandes said. “What I don’t like is people creating their own version of what I say, and that’s simply not true.”

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