Bruno Fernandes verdict leaves Roy Keane red faced as Man Utd star's true character emerges

Manchester United skipper has found a staunch ally in , who has heaped praise on the Portuguese star's influence in the dressing room.

The midfielder was caught in the crosshairs of 's anger back in February, with the former Red Devils captain on The Overlap podcast. Keane hailed Fernandes' skill but argued that "talent is not enough", calling his ability to lead into question.

Fernandes later vowed to turn Keane's scathing remarks into , while remaining faithful to his own style as United's figurehead. Williams has now come to Fernandes' defence, lauding him as "by a mile" the top player he shared the pitch with during his time at Old Trafford.

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

Chatting with on the podcast, the 24-year-old also addressed the backlash over Fernandes' outbursts towards team-mates during matches, branding him a "very good leader".

The ex-United defender said: "I love Bruno and he's the best player I've played with by a mile. When I'm saying played with, I mean on a consistent basis. [Paul] Pogba's in there as the best in training. He can do everything, but I've just played with Bruno more.

"It's the way he conducts himself off the pitch and on the pitch as well and how he speaks to you. Everyone always moans at him for throwing his hands up and moaning at players but that's just him. That's how he gets his points across to players and he's a very good leader."

Williams, a product of United's academy, made his first-team breakthrough under the guidance of in 2019. During his inaugural season, he clocked up an impressive 36 appearances and was tipped as one to watch.

But since then, his career trajectory has taken a nosedive as he hasn't featured in a competitive match since December 2023 while on loan at Ipswich. After being let go by United last summer, Williams took time out from the sport and is now facing sentencing having pleaded guilty to dangerous driving last month.

The downturn led Williams to contemplate hanging up his boots for good, having due to betrayals by friends and growing isolation from his family.

Williams said: "At that point, it was just getting too much for me. It was just problems with friends going behind my back and stabbing me in the back. It caused a big thing. I was ignoring my family and I wasn't really speaking to them. They were really worried about me. My friends were as well and they could see it wasn't right.

"I basically go into a mode where I just don't care. I have this switch where I don't care about anything - I don't care what happens and I don't care what I do. They wanted me to get back to football, but they could see that I fell out of love with it and I didn't want to do it."

Despite facing challenges, Williams is eyeing a comeback to the pitch after getting back into training. He confessed it's been about a year since he last spoke to his agent, but that hasn't stopped him from receiving plenty of interest from clubs.

Williams said: "Even since August, I've had loads of teams trying to get me from America, Europe, England and the Championship. I've had loads of teams, but I've just not been ready.

"I was prepared to have a break but I just didn't know how long that break was going to be. Looking back now, I don't know where I'd be if I didn't have the break. It actually hurts me watching football at the minute because I just want to be there."

and receive your daily dose of Manchester United content from Mirror Football. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our