Roy Keane has revealed he spoke directly with Bruno Fernandes after misquoting the Manchester United captain, leading to a public accusation of lying from the Portuguese midfielder.
Fernandes broke the record for the most assists in a single Premier League season during the 2025-26 campaign, setting up his 21st goal on the final day against Brighton.
Keane had appeared on The Overlap podcast after the penultimate round of fixtures in May, questioning Fernandes’ mindset and describing him as being at the centre of a “circus act.”
The former Republic of Ireland midfielder claimed Fernandes had said “I probably should have shot but I made them passes” following United’s 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest.
However, Fernandes corrected the record, pointing out that his actual words were: “There were probably moments today when I should have passed instead of shot.”
The United captain had also added: “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.”
Fernandes publicly accused Keane of telling a “lie” and said he was keen to meet the former United captain face to face to address the matter directly.
Keane confirmed on Wednesday’s Stick to Football podcast that a productive conversation had since taken place between the two men.
“There was a reaction after what we said on the podcast a few weeks ago and he reached out to me and wanted a chat – I called him and we had a lovely chat,” Keane said.
“It was nice because when we do podcasts or games, sometimes you think you say something afterwards and you communicate something and it doesn’t come across properly, so people get upset and he said he wanted to talk to me. We had a nice, mature conversation.”
Keane added: “I like having boundaries with players. I don’t want to be speaking to players every few weeks or their agents, I don’t want to go down that road, but every now and then a player might reach out, so I think it was important I spoke to him.”
The ex-United skipper reflected warmly on the exchange, saying: “He’s obviously a big player for United, I’m an ex-United player and I think the idea of this communicating and having a proper conversation, I really enjoyed it. Hopefully I think he did as well. Nice chat about a bit of everything and I felt better afterwards.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United have confirmed their retained list for the 2026-27 season, with Casemiro, Tyrell Malacia, and Jadon Sancho all departing the club.
Casemiro scored 26 goals across 160 appearances after joining in August 2022, winning both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup during his time at Old Trafford.
Sancho joined United in 2021 and made 83 appearances before loan spells at Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, and Aston Villa, with his last United match coming in August 2023.
Full-back Malacia made 50 appearances between 2022 and 2026 but endured a difficult spell at the club due to a serious knee injury disrupting his progress.
