Bruno Fernandes lashes out fiercely at Roy Keane over claims he shouldn't have the Premier League assist record.
On 25 May 2026 GMT+7, Bruno Fernandes, Manchester United's midfield captain, gave his latest interview following criticism from club legend Roy Keane about his record number of assists in one Premier League season.
Roy Keane commented that Bruno Fernandes did not deserve the 21 assists credited to him this Premier League season, which broke the previous record of 20 assists set by Thierry Henry (Arsenal) and Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) in a single season.
Keane argued that Patrick Dorgu's header from a corner taken by Bruno Fernandes, which bounced off the crossbar before hitting Bart Verbruggen and going into the net, should have counted as an own goal rather than an assist. This occurred in the match where Manchester United defeated Brighton 3-0.
Furthermore, Roy Keane criticized the current Manchester United captain, saying, "When you are the team captain, you should lead the team forward. Don't get fixated on your role or just on assists."
"What I heard at Manchester United over the past weekend honestly made me angry. All the talk was about his assists... Every player was discussing it. That game became all about his assists, and that was it."
"After the match, he gave an interview saying, ‘As Manchester United captain, many times I could have scored but I passed the ball.’ Wow. How can you have an attitude that focuses less on winning and more on personal stats?"
Recently, Bruno Fernandes responded immediately to the Manchester United legend's criticism, saying, "I don't mind criticism. I always listen to feedback and have never retaliated. Everyone has their own opinion, whether good or bad."
"What I dislike is when someone distorts facts. In this case, what you say about Roy Keane is basically a lie. Luckily, everything is recorded. Imagine if it wasn't—people would think Bruno only cares about setting up teammates to score."
"I even asked for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s number to message him, saying, ‘I don’t mind criticism, but I don’t like it when people twist what I say,’ because this has gone beyond what I can accept."
