Bruno Fernandes has publicly hit back at former Manchester United captain Roy Keane after weeks of criticism aimed at the Portuguese midfielder.
The feud escalated after Keane criticised Fernandes on The Overlap, claiming the midfielder prioritised personal statistics over the team following comments about his assists tally.
However, Fernandes insists the former United skipper completely misunderstood his words and admitted he was frustrated enough to seek Keane’s contact details directly.
Despite another outstanding individual campaign, including a Premier League-record 21 assists, Fernandes said he has no issue with criticism, but drew the line at what he described as false claims.
“I’ve always said I don’t mind criticism. I always take criticism from everyone and anyone and never reply to anyone whatsoever,” said Fernandes. “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.”
The skipper added: “Luckily for me everything is on record, imagine if it wasn’t, then people will think Bruno is always the guy trying to go for the assist.
“My number creations is always the same. It’s not that I’ve been trying to reach the assists now, no, I’ve been creating chances since I came to the Premier League. My type of play hasn’t changed. Roy has seen the same Bruno.
“I’ve always showed a lot of respect for Roy Keane and for everything he’s done for the club and everything he’s always said. I’ve never said something wrong.
“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 a little bit over the top of the things I think are acceptable.
“I accept criticism. I accept he can say things I don’t like. That improves me. What I don’t like is that people make their own words on what I say. It’s not true.
“He can criticise me, kill me, say that I’m not good enough, that I’m not a good captain, not a good player for the club, whatever, it’s okay, I don’t mind.
“It’s his opinion, I don’t like it, I’d prefer Roy Keane to give me some praise sometimes because I’ve achieved something not many players achieve.”
Fernandes backed up his words with another remarkable performance on the pitch after registering his 21st assist of the season against Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.
The assist helped him surpass previous Premier League single-season records held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne, who both managed 20 assists in their best campaigns.
Statistics from Squawka also revealed Fernandes created an astonishing 136 chances across the season — comfortably ahead of every other player in the division.
While questions remain over United’s overall campaign, Fernandes’ individual numbers continue to underline his importance at Old Trafford, even amid growing criticism from club legends and pundits alike.
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