Picture: “Donkey think its a lion”: Keane continues war of words with United star after season draws to a close

Manchester United captain’s war of words with former skipper Roy Keane continues to escalate. Keane’s history of criticism The Irishman is notoriously difficult to impress and has criticised Bruno Fernandes numerous times. Keane has previously called for the club to strip the captaincy from Fernandes, as he has questioned his leadership skills. The criticism took another turn after Fernandes equalled the Premier League assist record against Nottingham Forest. Keane was raging after the match and claimed that all the talk of breaking the assist record was like “a circus act“. He claimed he was cringing over the focus on Fernandes and claimed that more attention should have been given to Bryan Mbeumo, the guy who scored the goal. Fernandes’ response The Portugal international went one better at the weekend versus Brighton and Hove Albion and assisted Patrick Dorgu to break the record with 21 assists in a single season. After the match, Fernandes defended himself and claimed that he could accept criticism but not lies, in a barbed response to Keane’s previous comments. The captain stated, “I even asked Ole 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 over the top of the things I think are acceptable.” In the latest twist to the saga, Roy Keane posted an image on social media allegedly insulting Fernandes. Keane posted an image on his Instagram stories of a donkey braying with two lions crouched in the background. In a cryptic message he wrote, “too much attention makes a donkey think it is a lion.” It can be inferred that Keane was calling Fernandes a donkey and ridiculing his previous statements on the matter. 🚨📸 Roy Keane via IG 👀👀 pic.twitter.com/XgClFPecfV — UtdXclusive (@UtdXclusive) May 25, 2026 This is not the first time former players have gotten into a war of words with current players. Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes got into a very public argument with Lisandro Martinez as they ridiculed the player ahead of the Manchester derby. Bruno Fernandes Stats: 2025/26 Season CompetitionAppearancesStartsGoalsAssistsYellow CardsRed CardsMinutes Played Premier League35359215-3,068′ FA Cup11-1–90′ EFL Cup10—-45′ Total37369225-3,203′ Featured image Steve Bardens via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.