Analytics & Stats
Fernandes Responds to Keane: Record, Reputation and a Saudi Offer
Bruno Fernandes responds to Roy Keane, outlines record assist season, rejects Saudi move for sports.
Bruno Fernandes has set out his position after a summer of headlines that combined a historic assist record with a public spat involving Roy Keane.
Fernandes broke the Premier League single-season assist record with 21 assists, a mark originally set 23 years ago and previously equalled only once. The milestone, achieved in United’s final home game of the season against Nottingham Forest, prompted renewed scrutiny from Keane. After Fernandes matched the record, he said: “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.” Keane later responded on The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast: “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.”
Speaking on The Diary of a CEO podcast, Fernandes rejected Keane’s interpretation and accused him of misrepresenting his words. “I don’t like when people lie about things, and this case 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. Luckily for me is everything on record,” he said. “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 that he asked Ole Gunnar Solskjær to put him in touch with Keane, though it was unclear if contact had been made before the interview was recorded. Keane’s public reply on Instagram read: “Too much attention makes a donkey think he’s a lion.”
Beyond the dispute, Fernandes explained his wider priorities. “I said it before, I haven’t fulfilled my dreams here at [Manchester United],” he said when asked why he rejected a reported offer from Al Hilal worth not far short of $50 million a year. He quoted his wife: “The words she said were like, ‘Have you achieved everything you wanted to achieve in your career and is this the next step you want to take for your future and for your career?’” and added: “Obviously, [the Premier League] is the league I want to be in. This is the best league in the world, this is where I’m going to enjoy my football as I’m not going to enjoy it in any other place so we still have dreams to fulfill.”
Fernandes’s creativity underpinned the record: he created 136 chances across his 35 Premier League appearances, compared to Dominik Szoboszlai’s 78. He accepts criticism routinely but objects to being misquoted, saying: “[Keane] can criticize me, killing me, say that I’m not good enough, that I’m not a good captain for him, that I’m not a good player for the club whatsoever.” United remain without a Premier League title since 2013 and have plans for the next two seasons, including ‘Project 150’, with Fernandes thought to be in talks over a new contract.
Analytics & Stats
A Season of Extremes: Grading the 2025–26 Premier League
Arsenal won the title; a season of extremes produced champions, chaos and three relegated clubs 2026
The 2025–26 Premier League was a study in contrasts: one club ended 22 years of agony and others lurched from chaos to survival. Arsenal finished top (finances: 4th; xG: 1st; finish: 1st), and Thierry Henry captured the mood succinctly: “You don’t have to like it,” Thierry Henry said of Arsenal’s robust approach, “but you must respect it.”
Manchester City closed as runners-up (finances: 2nd; xG: 2nd; finish: 2nd). Their campaign left Bernardo Silva to argue, “If we didn’t make so many mistakes,” the captain argued , “we would have won this league.” Manchester United recovered to third (finances: 5th; xG: 3rd; finish: 3rd) after a season of extremes.
At the top end and middle of the table there were disparate stories: Aston Villa finished fourth (finances: 6th; xG: 13th; finish: 4th) and won the Europa League; Bournemouth produced a remarkable sixth-place finish (finances: 14th; xG: 10th; finish: 6th) and recorded the season’s longest unbeaten run (18 games). Brighton secured Conference League qualification (finances: 12th; xG: 6th; finish: 8th) and Lewis Dunk was unequivocal: “100% it’s a success.”
Several established names struggled. Chelsea endured a chaotic year (finances: 3rd; xG: 4th; finish: 10th) and even saw Robert Sánchez match Liam Delap for direct Premier League goal contributions. Liverpool underwhelmed (finances: 1st; xG: 5th; finish: 5th). Tottenham produced a poor return (finances: 7th; xG: 16th; finish: 17th) and Igor Tudor reflected: “The bottle is always either half-empty or half-full,” and “Here there is nothing full. There are a lot of empty things.”
Relegation hit big clubs and small alike. West Ham went down (wage bill: 13th; xG: 17th; finish: 18th) and Nuno Espírito Santo insisted, “West Ham has to be in the Premier League,” and “We are a big club that has to be in the Premier League.” Wolves finished bottom (finances: 13th; xG: 19th; finish: 20th) and chairman Jeff Shi admitted: “Maybe we sold too many players in one window.” Burnley were also relegated (finances: 19th; xG: 20th; finish: 19th).
Other narratives included Newcastle’s slide after a summer of upheaval (finances: 8th; xG: 9th; finish: 12th), Everton’s deflated near-miss with Angus Kinnear calling himself “happily dissatisfied,” Fulham’s middling campaign where they “missed the cherry on the cake,” and Nottingham Forest’s turbulence with multiple managers. This season left clear winners, clear losers and plenty for clubs to reflect on ahead of 2026–27.
Analytics & Stats
Ten Years in Numbers: Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City Record
Pep Guardiola finished ten years at Manchester City with 423 wins from 593 matches and 20 trophies..
Pep Guardiola brought his decade-long Manchester City tenure to a close as the 2025/26 season ended. He managed 593 matches, winning 423 for a 71% win rate, drawing 77 and losing 93. The final defeat was a home loss to Aston Villa.
His reign began on Aug. 8, 2016, with a 2–1 victory against Sunderland. Sergio Agüero scored after four minutes and a Paddy McNair own goal three minutes from time sealed the first win. Guardiola’s 593rd match also overtook a long-standing club appearance record, surpassing Les McDowall’s 592 matches as manager from 1950–1963.
Across competitions Guardiola’s record reads: Premier League 380 played, 269 wins (71%); Champions League 107 played, 66 wins (62%); FA Cup 54 played, 46 wins (85%); Carabao/EFL Cup 39 played, 33 wins (85%); UEFA Super Cup 1 played, 1 win (100%); Club World Cup 6 played, 5 wins (83%); Community Shield 6 played, 3 wins (50%). The totals match the 593 games and 423 wins.
In the Premier League Guardiola’s City finished third in 2016–17, then made history in 2017–18 by winning 32 of 38 matches and becoming the first side to reach 100 points. City again won 32 matches in 2018–19, finishing on 98 points. The last two seasons under Guardiola were the club’s weakest in Premier League points during his tenure, with 71 points in 2024–25 and 77 in 2025–26.
City scored 1,462 goals and conceded 557 during the decade. Jermain Defoe was the first opposition scorer faced and Ollie Watkins the last. Sergio Agüero became City’s all-time top scorer during the period, surpassing Eric Brook’s long-standing record in 2017 and finishing on 260 goals. Erling Haaland is the highest scorer under Guardiola with 162 goals in four seasons.
Manchester City’s historic trophy haul changed markedly. Four pre-2016 league titles grew by six under Guardiola. The club had five FA Cups before 2016; Guardiola added three. He more than doubled the Carabao Cup total with five further wins. European success arrived once with the 2022–23 Champions League. In total Guardiola won 20 trophies in 10 years compared with 18 in the rest of the club’s prior history.
Analytics & Stats
Opta Forecasts Final-Day Relegation Scenarios for 2025/26
Opta projects West Ham as favorites for relegation while Tottenham still hold finalday control today
The Premier League reaches its final round this weekend with one relegation place still undecided. Burnley and Wolves are already confirmed as relegated, leaving a single spot to settle between Tottenham and West Ham.
Tottenham have one match remaining to salvage what the draft describes as an utterly disastrous campaign. Their destiny remains in their own hands going into Sunday’s finale, though form this season offers little comfort. West Ham still hope to overturn their London rivals and avoid the drop.
The Opta supercomputer provides clear projections. It predicts Tottenham will finish on 39.73 points with a 14.09% chance of relegation. West Ham are projected to reach 37.78 points and face an 85.91% probability of relegation. Burnley and Wolves, both already relegated, have projected points of 22.42 and 20.31 respectively, each with a 100% relegation chance.
With Burnley and Wolves long gone, just one relegation spot remains. West Ham are occupying that position and must win on the final day while also relying on Tottenham losing. The Irons sit two points behind Spurs, but Tottenham’s superior goal difference means West Ham know three points will only be enough if Tottenham are beaten. The unlikelihood of West Ham winning and Spurs losing is reflected in Opta’s projections. As per the supercomputer, Nuno Espírito Santo’s side have an 85.91% chance of being relegated when they host Leeds United on the final day of the season.
Opta’s match outcome probabilities show Tottenham versus Everton as: Home Win 50.4%, Draw 22.8%, Away Win 26.8%. For West Ham against Leeds: Home Win 51.5%, Draw 23.8%, Away Win 24.7%.
West Ham are not yet mathematically out of the fight. Tottenham host Everton in search of only their third home win of the Premier League season. On their own patch, Spurs have won twice, drawn six times and lost 10 matches, the joint-worst home record in the division, tied with Burnley.
