Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has lashed out at Roy Keane comparing his pursuit of the single-season Premier League assist record to a "circus act", accusing the former Red Devils skipper of lying about him.

Fernandes ended the 2025-26 Premier League campaign with 21 assists after teeing up Patrick Dorgu for United's opener in Sunday's 3-0 success at Brighton.

That ensured he surpassed Thierry Henry (in 2002-03) and Kevin De Bruyne (in 2019-20) for the most assists in a single campaign in the competition outright.

Fernandes also scored United's clinching goal at the American Express Stadium, meaning he has registered both a goal and an assist in 19 different Premier League games for the Red Devils – only Wayne Rooney (35) and Ryan Giggs (22) have done so more often.

But in the build-up to United's final match, Fernandes was heavily criticised by club icon Keane, in comments he made on an episode of The Overlap.

Reflecting on United's 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest on matchday 37, when Fernandes equalled the assist record, Keane said Fernandes' focus was not on winning trophies for his club, but on collecting individual accolades.

Keane said Fernandes had suggested after the Forest game that he looked to pass in situations where he should have shot himself, adding: "He won't be winning trophies, not with that mindset."

But in an appearance on The Diary of a CEO podcast, Fernandes said that was not an accurate depiction of his comments and accused Keane of putting words in his mouth. 

Fernandes said: "Like I've always said, I don't mind criticism. I've always taken criticism from everyone and anyone, and I never reply to anything 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, what you said about Roy Keane...  basically, what he said is a lie.

"Either he saw some other interview or he can't say that I said a 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. That's the only thing I don't like."

This is not the first instance of a current United player and a player from the Alex Ferguson era clashing this season, with Lisandro Martinez becoming embroiled in an ugly public row with Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt in January.

Fernandes added that he was keen to resolve the issue with Keane, saying: "I think I've always showed a lot of respect for Roy Keane and for everything he's done for the club.

"I've never ever had anything to say, I've never said anything wrong.

"I even asked Ole [Gunnar Solksjaer] for his number to text him, to be honest, to have a word with him to say that I don't mind the criticism, but I don't like it when people lie about things I say.

"Obviously, I would prefer Roy Keane to give me some praise sometimes because I've achieved something that not many players have achieved. 

"I understand that this club is about winning trophies and I have never taken that off my mind."