Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has hit back at club legend Roy Keane, accusing him of telling a direct lie about comments he made regarding his pursuit of the Premier League assists record.

The dispute centres on remarks Keane made on podcast The Overlap following United's 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest near the end of the season. Keane claimed Fernandes had admitted in a post-match interview to holding back shots in order to register assists, calling it a "circus act" and suggesting the Portuguese skipper was placing personal glory above team interests.

Keane's exact words were: "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?"

What Fernandes actually said was markedly different: "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." Keane appears to have reversed the meaning of those words entirely.

Fernandes fires back on podcast

Speaking on The Diary of a CEO, Fernandes made clear his frustration — not with criticism, but with what he sees as misrepresentation.

"What I don't like is when people lie about things and in this case what Roy Keane 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."

Fernandes stressed he has no issue with Keane disliking him as a player or a person, but drew a firm line at having words put in his mouth. "That's the only thing I don't like," he said.

A record-breaking season

The row comes off the back of one of the finest individual campaigns in Premier League history. Fernandes registered his record-equalling 20th assist of the season against Nottingham Forest, then broke the mark outright on the final day in United's victory at Brighton — surpassing the previous records jointly held by Thierry Henry and Kevin de Bruyne.

He also scored 9 goals in the top flight, and his performances helped United secure a third-place Premier League finish and a return to the Champions League after a two-season absence. In May, he collected both the Football Writers' Association men's Player of the Year award and the Premier League Player of the Season award.

Fernandes seeks Keane's number

Rather than letting the matter fester publicly, Fernandes says he reached out to former United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to obtain Keane's phone number so he could address the issue directly.

"I've always showed a lot of respect for Roy Keane and for everything he's done for the club," Fernandes said. "I even asked Ole his number to text him, to have a word with him — to say that I don't mind the criticism but I don't like when people lie about things that I say."

He added that he would welcome praise from Keane given the scale of what he has achieved, while insisting trophies have never left his mind. "I understand that this club is about winning trophies and I have never taken that off my mind," Fernandes said.

This is not the first time a current United player has clashed with a club great. Earlier this season, Lisandro Martinez was embroiled in a public dispute with Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt after they questioned his height and ability to handle Erling Haaland in the Manchester derby.