Roy Keane buried the hatchet with Bruno Fernandes during ‘a lovely chat’ to clear the air after the Man United star had called the pundit a liar.
Last month Keane tore into the midfielder for apparently admitting to targeting the assists record over the benefit of the team but his rage was based on a misunderstood quote.
Fernandes then accused Keane of ‘lying’ and the feud between the ex-Man United legend and current playmaker was growing increasingly spiteful.
But now Keane has revealed that they’ve had a ‘proper conversation’, telling the Stick to Football podcast brought to you by Sky Bet: ‘There was a reaction to what we said after the podcast a few weeks ago, with what I said about Bruno Fernandes, and he reached out to me, wanted to chat, so I called him and we did have a lovely chat.
‘We had a chat about a bit of everything. When we do podcasts or games, sometimes you think you say something afterwards, you’re trying to communicate something that doesn’t come across properly and people get upset.
‘And he wanted to speak to me and we had a nice, mature conversation. It was a lovely chat.’
Roy Keane spoke on the Stick to Football podcast about clearing the air with Bruno Fernandes
Even though Keane enjoyed clearing the air, he made a point of saying he doesn’t want to have cosy relationships with players that impact his punditry work.
He went on: ‘I like having boundaries with players as I don’t want to speak to them every few weeks. But every now and again, a player might reach out, so I think it was good that I spoke to Bruno because there was a lot reported and he’s a big player for United.
‘I like the idea of communicating, having a proper conversation. I really enjoyed it and hopefully he did too.’
Keane had been riled up originally by thinking that Fernandes had been targeting the Premier League assists record over the good of the team.
On the Overlap podcast, Keane 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 had criticised himself for shooting when he could have passed against Nottingham Forest on May 17 – which Keane then misinterpreted.
Fernandes managed 21 assists in the Premier League, which is the record.
He later went on the Diary of a CEO podcast and addressed Keane’s remarks head on, saying: ‘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. Luckily for me everything is on record, imagine if it wasn’t, then people will think Bruno is always the guy trying to go for the assist.
Fernandes recorded 21 assists, setting a Premier League record last season
‘My number creations is always the same. It’s not that I’ve been trying to reach the assists now, no, I’ve been creating chances since I came to the Premier League. My type of play hasn’t changed. Roy has seen the same Bruno.
‘I’ve always showed a lot of respect for Roy Keane and for everything he’s done for the club and everything he’s always said. I’ve never said something wrong.
‘I even asked Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] his number to text him to have a word with him, to say “I don’t mind the criticism, I don’t like when people lie about the things that I say,” because this goes a little bit over the top of the things I think are acceptable.
‘I accept criticism. I accept he can say things I don’t like. That improves me. What I don’t like is that people make their own words on what I say. It’s not true. He can criticise me, kill me, say that I’m not good enough, that I’m not a good captain, not a good player for the club, whatever, it’s okay, I don’t mind.
‘It’s his opinion, I don’t like it, I’d prefer Roy Keane to give me some praise sometimes because I’ve achieved something not many players achieve.’
Keane isn’t the only Man United legend to have had to smooth over relations with Fernandes.
After the Irishman spoke about his phone call, Gary Neville recalled his own run-in in the wake of Man United’s obliteration by fierce rivals Liverpool in 2023.
Fernandes branded Roy Keane a ‘liar’ over his criticism when appearing on a podcast
He added: ‘After the 7-0 game with Liverpool vs Manchester United, I said something about Bruno Fernandes and obviously at the time, he was upset with what I said, and I went in to see him a year after that, and we spoke for over an hour.
‘You talk about players whilst we commentate, but then when you talk to them, you recognise that there’s a lot in common which does make you reflect.
‘When you speak to Bruno one-on-one, he’s a massive football fan and watches football all the time. It’s like Trent Alexander-Arnold. I went to interview him a couple years ago and you realise that he’s sat at home watching all the Championship and League One games.
‘I didn’t think he’d be sat at home on a Friday night watching a Championship game, but he watches loads of football,’ Neville concluded.
