Manchester United has hit back at Sir Jim Ratcliffe over the co-owner’s criticism of his teammates and responded to Roy Keane’s blast about his captaincy.
Amid a whole load of nonsense spouted by Ratcliffe in a series of interviews this week, the British billionaire named five players as he claimed several stars at the club were either “overpaid or not good enough”.
After scoring a hat-trick in his side’s 4-1 win over Real Sociedad in the Europa League, which secured a quarter-final with Lyon after a 5-2 aggregate victory, Fernandes admitted it was “not nice” to hear Ratcliffe’s criticism, hinting that it’s not the players but the club that’s to blame for the hefty contracts.
“We need to prove ourselves every day in training, every day that we have a game,” Fernandes said. “We can’t relax at this club.
“You know that there’s a big standard, a big attention that you get from the media, from everywhere. You need to realise that sometimes you need to put your focus on your game, trying to improve yourself.
“It’s not nice to hear certain things, obviously. I don’t think that any player likes to hear criticism or things that are talked about to you, that you’re not good enough or you’re overpaid or whatever.
“Everyone has their own contract. The club agrees to do the contracts at the time you come here or at the time you do a new contract or whatever and it’s about yourself, proving that you can be important for the club.”
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Fernandes was singled out by a very angry Roy Keane last month as the chief “f***ing imposter” in Amorim’s team, but the Red Devils skipper took the high ground when asked about the United legend’s thoughts.
“Everyone has an opinion and that’s fine,” Fernandes said of Keane’s comments. “I can’t change the mind of people. Like everything I have to do is go on the pitch and try to do the best I can for the club.
“Roy Keane was an amazing captain for the club, one of the best as everyone says. I didn’t have the chance to see much from him, only the last few years, but was a great player that won everything for the club.
“He’s massively respected from everyone and has all my respect. He has to give his opinion in a programme and this is what he thinks about me.
“What I’m doing on the pitch to try to change his mind or trying to do something that he probably sees as a good thing. Obviously, I do it in my own way, I don’t want to copy anyone.
“I try to be the best captain that I can for my team-mates, I try to help everyone in the best way I can and the best way I know.
“I have a lot of things to improve, not only as a captain but as a player, as a person, as a human being – and that’s fine.
“Criticism is going to be always part (of the game) and it’s going to make me grow and understand that there’s still a long way to go.”