Bruno Fernandes publicly labels Manchester United legend a 'liar'

The ongoing friction between Manchester United's present captain and a former iconic leader is intensifying. Bruno Fernandes recently publicly called Roy Keane a 'deceiver'.

The Portuguese midfielder revealed that he proactively asked for Keane's phone number through Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to have a direct conversation following criticisms that Fernandes believes misrepresented his statements.

Despite just finishing a highly impressive personal season, Fernandes has remained a frequent target of Keane's criticism. In last weekend's match against Brighton, Fernandes assisted Patrick Dorgu to open the scoring, thereby reaching 21 assists for the season—a milestone highlighted as outstanding in the Premier League. Yet even that form has not been enough to soften the harsh opinions from the former MU captain.

Recently, on the show *The Overlap*, Keane attacked Fernandes, claiming the player prioritizes breaking assist records over the team's collective interests.

However, that comment stemmed from a misunderstanding. After the match against Nottingham Forest on May 17, Fernandes only criticized himself for taking shots when he should have passed. Keane instead interpreted it the opposite way, suggesting the midfielder deliberately passed just to boost his assist tally.

During a conversation on *The Diary of a CEO*, Fernandes candidly expressed his frustration: "I've always said I’m not afraid of criticism. I take in all opinions and rarely respond to anyone. Everyone has the right to judge—whether they like me or not, that's normal.

What I cannot accept is when someone says something untrue. In this case, what Roy Keane said about me is simply incorrect. Luckily, everything is recorded. If not, many people would think Bruno is always solely focused on chasing assists."

The 31-year-old star emphasized that his playing style has not changed since he arrived in the Premier League: "My chance creation numbers have always been the same. It's not as if I’m only now trying to get assists. Since coming to England, I’ve always played that way. Roy has witnessed that all along.

I’ve always had respect for Roy Keane and what he achieved for the club. I have never made any disrespectful comments."

Fernandes also disclosed that he wanted to speak directly with the Irish legend: "I once asked Ole for Roy’s phone number to send him a message and talk. I accept any criticism, even things I don’t like hearing, because it can make me better. But I don’t like it when others attribute words to me that I never said.

He can say I’m not good enough, not a good captain, not suitable for the club—I accept all of that. That’s Roy’s opinion. I just wish that sometimes he could also give me a word of recognition, because not many players have done what I’ve done."

The assist against Brighton enabled Fernandes to surpass two milestones previously set by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne, who each had their best seasons with 20 assists.

According to statistics from Squawka, Fernandes created a total of 136 chances throughout the season. The next closest is Dominik Szoboszlai with 78 chances, a fair distance behind.

Nevertheless, pundits have noted that MU's schedule this season is lighter due to no European competition to stretch their resources. Fernandes played 35 Premier League matches and completed 31 full games. Meanwhile, in the 2019-20 season, when De Bruyne reached 20 assists with Manchester City, the Belgian midfielder also played 35 matches but only played the full 90 minutes 26 times because he was also exerting himself in the UEFA Champions League.

Even so, looking purely at efficiency, Fernandes still demonstrates remarkable consistency, even slightly outperforming Henry in the 2002-2003 season, when the French legend played 37 Premier League games and almost always completed the full match.

Interestingly, Solskjaer, who once managed Fernandes at Old Trafford, also questioned the absolute value of the assist statistic. The Norwegian tactician once said: "How is an assist counted? It could be just a square pass, and Bruno smashes it into the top corner, or Paul Pogba plays a through ball and Mason Greenwood runs in to score.

Paul has always been one of the best passers in Europe. Personally, I’m not too concerned about assist stats. Sometimes it’s just a social media story."

However, for Fernandes, the most important thing right now is not arguing about numbers. The issue that prompted him to speak out is the feeling of being misunderstood and cast into an image he never wanted to become. At Old Trafford, the debate surrounding the current captain therefore may not yet be concluded.