Bruno Fernandes calls for Roy Keane’s cellphone quantity and slams ‘mendacity’ Man Utd icon
Bruno Fernandes has hit back at Roy Keane after the Sky Sports pundit misrepresented the Manchester United captain’s comments about chasing the Premier League assist record
Bruno Fernandes has hit out at Roy Keane’s quote
Bruno Fernandes has accused Roy Keane of lying and revealed he asked for the Manchester United icon’s phone number to set him straight.
Keane claimed Red Devils captain Fernandes had stated he concentrated on playing a pass to secure the Premier League assist record, rather than taking a shot, when the Portugal midfielder had actually said the complete opposite in a post-game interview.
Fernandes, 31, smashed the record on the final day of the season after delivering a cross for Patrick Dorgu to nod home against Brighton for his 21st assist. And now he has fired back at Keane’s incorrect criticism.
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The United skipper had previously matched the benchmark established by Arsenal legend Thierry Henry and Manchester City hero Kevin De Bruyne with an assist against Nottingham Forest.
It was the clash against Forest that had annoyed Keane, during United’s final home fixture of 2025/26. The Sky Sports pundit seemingly misinterpreted Fernandes’ comments after the match, however, leaving the Red Devils star exasperated with his ‘lie’.
“I don’t mind criticism,” Fernandes said, speaking to business podcast guru Steven Bartlett. “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 [Gunnar Solskjaer] 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.”
Keane had previously aired his grievances on the Stick to Football podcast, reports the Mirror. The Irishman was irritated by the club’s emphasis on Fernandes’ quest to secure the Premier League assist record for a single campaign.
“When you’re the captain of a club and you’re supposed to be driving the club forward, do not be getting bogged down by just your role in the team, just assists,” 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?”
However, Fernandes had actually claimed he should have passed rather than shot. Fernandes guided United to a third-place Premier League finish this term, with the club poised to return to Champions League action.
The talisman has just one year left on his deal, though United do possess an option to extend it by a further 12 months. Michael Carrick is confident that Fernandes will remain at the club. “I’ve got no reason to think otherwise,” he stated.
“We’ve loved what he’s done and he loves being here, I think you can see that. He wanted to stay on [the pitch], he wants to stay on every single game because he’s enjoying his football, which is fantastic.”
