Roy Keane and Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes have not seen eye-to-eye over how the Portuguese's single-season assist record should be viewed
Roy Keane looks on
Roy Keane has appeared to hit back at Bruno Fernandes (Image: PA)
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Roy Keane has appeared to hit back at Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes with a post on social media after he accused him of "lying". The former Reds midfielder has referred to him as a "donkey" in his stinging criticism of the Portugal international.
Fernandes has enjoyed a brilliant campaign at Old Trafford, having registered a single-season record of 21 Premier League assists. But the Portuguese has been criticised, with United legend Keane describing him as being at the centre of a "circus act" following their 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest on the penultimate weekend of the season.
And his anger over Keane's comments were clear on The Diary Of A CEO podcast, released on Monday. The former Sporting star accused the Irishman of "lying" over comments he made.
He 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 or 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 that you said about Roy Keane basically what he 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 is everything 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."
Now, Keane has appeared to criticise Fernandes again with a post on his Instagram stories. The 54-year-old posted a picture of a donkey with two lions lurking in the shadows.
The post includes a simple sentence which reads: "Too much attention makes a donkey think he's a lion."
Keane suggested last week that Fernandes was prioritising individual assists glory over the team's interests in his eagerness to set the single-season record.
Speaking on The Overlap podcast, the former Ireland international said: "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?
"He won't be winning trophies, not with that mindset of the team."
Fernandes' actual post-match comments were: "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."
Former United captain Keane appeared to have misinterpreted Fernandes' comments rather than seeking to distort the truth. Nevertheless, a war of words now threatens to break out between two of the Reds' best midfielders of all time.
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