Roy Keane shares cryptic ‘donkey’ post after Bruno Fernandes hits out at Man Utd ‘lie’ | OneFootball

Roy Keane has posted a cryptic message on Instagram just hours after an interview in which Bruno Fernandes slammed the Manchester United legend.

Fernandes has been Man Utd’s best player this season, helping Michael Carrick’s side finish third in the Premier League table.

Then Man Utd-manager Ruben Amorim deployed Fernandes in a deeper role in midfield, but Carrick, who replaced the Portuguese boss in January, pushed the 31-year-old back in his wonted number 10 role.

Fernandes flourished under Carrick, ending the 2025/26 Premier League campaign with a record-breaking 21 assists.

The 31-year-old also scored nine goals in 35 Premier League matches for Man Utd this season, winning the Premier League Player of the Season and the FWA Footbaler of the Year awards.

What Roy Keane said about Bruno Fernandes

However, Man Utd legend Roy Keane recently took offence at too much being made of Fernandes’ new assist record.

Keane said on The Overlap last week: “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.”

What Bruno Fernandes actually said in post-match interview

Keane was referring to Fernandes’s comments after the match between Man Utd and Forest at Old Trafford on May 17.

What the midfielder actually said was, according to BBC Sport: “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.”

What Bruno Fernandes said about Roy Keane

During an extensive interview with The Diary of a CEO, Fernandes was asked about Keane’s comments.

The Man Utd midfielder 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.”

Fernandes added: “Obviously, I think I’ve always showed a lot of respect for Roy Keane and for everything he’s done for the club and for everything he’s always said.

“I’ve never ever had something to say, I’ve never said something wrong.

“I even asked Ole his number to text him to be honest, to have a word with him to say that I don’t mind the criticism [but] I don’t like when people lie about things that I say.

“Because this is like… it goes a little bit over the top of the things that I think are acceptable.

“I accept criticism. I accept that he can say things that I don’t like and I don’t like to see it.

“But as I said before, that improves me. What I don’t like is that people make their own words on what I say and it’s not true.

“Obviously, I prefer Roy Keane to give me some praise sometimes because I’ve achieved something that not many players have achieved.

“I understand that this club is about winning trophies and I have never taken that off my mind.”

Roy Keane’s cryptic post on Instagram

Just hours after Fernandes revealed his opinion on Keane’s comments, the Sky Sports pundit made a cryptic post on Instagram.

The former Republic of Ireland international posted a drawing of a braying donkey, with the caption “Too much attention makes a donkey think he’s a lion”.