Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has accused Roy Keane of telling a “lie” about his pursuit of the Premier League assists record.
Fernandes claimed the outright record for assists in a single season by taking his tally to 21 in Sunday’s 3-0 win at Brighton.
The 31-year-old equalled the previous record, shared by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne, a week earlier during United’s 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest.
United great Keane suggested after the Forest game that Fernandes was prioritising individual glory over the team’s interests, describing him as being at the centre of a “circus act”.
Following Fernandes’ response on Monday morning, the 54-year-old seemingly stoked the feud later in the day by posting on Instagram: “Too much attention makes a donkey think he’s a lion.”
Speaking on The Overlap podcast, Keane initially said of Fernandes: “After the (Forest) game he got interviewed and he said, the captain of Manchester United said: ‘A few times, I probably should have shot but I made them passes.’
“Wow. How can your mindset of a footballer be going into a match to be about an individual record? He won’t be winning trophies, not with that mindset of the team.”
However, the former Republic of Ireland and United captain appeared to have misinterpreted Fernandes’ comments.
Fernandes’ 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.”
Portugal international Fernandes said Keane had put untrue “words in my mouth”.
“Like I’ve always said, I don’t mind criticism,” Fernandes told The Diary of a CEO podcast. “I’ve always taken criticism from everyone and anyone and I never reply to anything or whatsoever.
“People have an opinion; they think it’s good, bad, whatever. What I don’t like is when people lie about things and (in) this case that you said about Roy Keane basically what he said is a lie because… either he saw some other interview or he can’t say that I said one thing that I’ve just not said and luckily for me everything is on record.
“I accept his criticism, I accept that he might like me as a player or not, like me as a person or not. But what I don’t like is that he puts words in my mouth that have not been said.”
Fernandes said he had contacted former United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to ask for Keane’s phone number so he can address the issue.
“Obviously I think I’ve always showed a lot of respect for Roy Keane and for everything he’s done for the club and for everything he’s always said,” Fernandes added.
“What I don’t like is that people make their own words on what I say and it’s not true.”
After assisting Patrick Dorgu’s opener at the Amex Stadium, Premier League player of the season Fernandes completed the scoring following a goal from Bryan Mbeumo.
United ended the campaign in third place and qualified for the Champions League with three games to spare.
Manager Michael Carrick, who signed a two-year contract on Friday, secured an enviable 39 points from the club’s final 17 matches after initially taking temporary charge following the departure of Ruben Amorim.
“Putting results together in this league is tough and a run is challenging,” said Carrick.
“Obviously, it’s a whole new start (next season) in many ways.
“The boys come back from the World Cup knowing that we can trust each other, we can work together, we can give a bit extra for each other, and when you go through that, I think that’s quite powerful.”
