Roy Keane has dramatically changed his stance on Bruno Fernandes, hailing the Manchester United captain as the 'best in the world' at picking the right passes in transition. The bold praise came during ITV's half-time coverage of Portugal's World Cup group match against Uzbekistan, after Fernandes set up Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal's third goal.
Keane's U-turn on Fernandes
Portugal were already leading 2-0 through goals from Ronaldo and Nuno Mendes when Fernandes slid a precise ball through the lines, allowing Ronaldo to finish expertly into the far corner. Reacting to the assist, Keane stated: 'He is by far the best player in the world at that!'
This praise marks a significant shift from recent tensions between the two. Earlier this month, Keane claimed Fernandes had said in an interview that he deliberately passed instead of shooting to pursue the Premier League assist record. However, Fernandes' actual remarks contradicted this, and he addressed the misinterpretation on The Diary of a CEO podcast, expressing a desire to speak with Keane.
Mature Conversation Resolves Dispute
A subsequent phone call between the pair cleared the air. Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Keane joked: 'He apologised, I forgave him, no problem, but no, it was a good chat.' He added: '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. A lovely chat about a bit of everything, but 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. And we had a nice, mature conversation. It was lovely. A lovely chat.'
Keane emphasised his preference for maintaining boundaries with players, saying: '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 this communicating and having a proper conversation – I really enjoyed it. Hopefully, I think he did as well. Nice chat about a bit of everything, and I felt better afterwards.'
Fernandes' Assist Record
Fernandes contributed 21 assists in the Premier League this season, underlining his creative prowess. Keane's newfound admiration for his transition passing comes as Portugal continue their World Cup campaign under Roberto Martinez.
