Roy Keane has revealed that he and Bruno Fernandes have resolved their public row over the latter’s pursuit of the Premier League single-season assist record, following a “nice, mature conversation.”
Manchester United captain Fernandes was named the Premier League’s Player of the Season for 2025-26 after racking up a record-breaking 21 assists.
But the end of the campaign saw Fernandes clash with former United skipper Keane, who criticised his pursuit of the assist record.
In an appearance on The Overlap, Keane suggested Fernandes was more interested in individual accolades than team success and claimed the Red Devils midfielder had admitted to passing when he had opportunities to shoot instead.
Fernandes described that comment as a “lie” and outlined his desire to discuss the issue with Keane, and the duo have now cleared the air.
On the Stick to Football podcast, Keane said: “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.
inspired by those who set the standard. pic.twitter.com/MMSZdFnlWT
— Bruno Fernandes (@B_Fernandes8) May 25, 2026
“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. 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.
“There has been lots going on and lots reported. He’s obviously a big player for United, I’m an ex-United player and I think the idea of communicating and having a proper conversation, I really enjoyed it.
“I think he did as well. We had a nice chat about a bit of everything and I felt better afterwards.”
Fernandes is currently preparing for Portugal’s World Cup campaign, which gets underway against DR Congo on June 17.
They face Nigeria in their final pre-tournament friendly on Wednesday, with Uzbekistan and Colombia their other Group K opponents when the World Cup begins.
