Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has accused Roy Keane of telling a "lie" about his pursuit of the Premier League assists record.
Fernandes claimed the outright record for assists in a single season by taking his tally to 21 in Sunday's 3-0 win at Brighton.
The 31-year-old equalled the previous record, shared by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne, a week earlier during United's 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest.
United great Keane suggested Fernandes was prioritising individual glory over the team's interests, describing him as being at the centre of a "circus act."
Speaking 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."
Bruno Fernandes won Premier League player of the year. Molly Darlington/Copa/Getty Images However, the former Republic of Ireland and United captain appeared to have misinterpreted Fernandes' comments.
Fernandes' actual post-match remarks were: "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."
Portugal international Fernandes said Keane had put untrue "words in my mouth."
"Like I've always said, I don't mind criticism," Fernandes told The Diary of a CEO podcast. "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 everything is on record.
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"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."