Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes said it is not the players' fault for the contracts signed off by the club as he hit back at claims by co-owner Jim Ratcliffe that some are "overpaid".
Fernandes was singled out for praise by Ratcliffe, who also said some of the United squad were "not good enough" in a range of media interviews this week.
The United captain led by example by scoring a hat-trick in Thursday's 4-1 win over Real Sociedad to book a place in the quarterfinals of the Europa League.
And he defended his teammates after Ratcliffe singled out the signings of Casemiro, Rasmus Hojlund and Andre Onana as examples of expensive deals made before he arrived at the club, which United are still paying for.
"We can't relax at this club. You know that there's a big standard, a big attention that you get from the media, from everywhere," said Fernandes.
"It's not nice to hear certain things, obviously. I don't think that any player likes to hear criticism or things that are talked about to you, that you're not good enough or you're overpaid or whatever.
"Everyone has their own contract. The club agrees to do the contracts at the time you come here or at the time you do a new contract or whatever and it's about yourself, proving that you can be important for the club."
The Europa League is United's only hope of salvaging a miserable season so far.
Ruben Amorim's team sit 13th in the Premier League and are out of both domestic cup competitions.
Fernandes revealed he had the chance to leave Old Trafford last summer but reiterated his desire to win more trophies as captain.
"I sat with the club because I had an offer to leave," he added. "We talked about the possibility of me leaving the club or staying.
"They said what they wanted from me. I just asked if they still see me as part of the future of the club or not. I spoke at the time with (former manager, Erik) Ten Hag also.
"He was very clear with me, the club was very clear with me, that they thought I would be a big part of this rebuild. I thought that we could be successful."
- MORE BRUNOS NEEDED -
Despite Fernandes' return of 15 goals this season as United's stand-out performer, he has still received criticism from one of his predecessors as the club's captain.
Roy Keane claimed the 30-year-old was "not a fighter" and that "talent is not enough" in a recent media appearance.
Fernandes said the former Irish midfielder, who won 13 major trophies at United, is someone he "massively respects" and is hoping to change Keane's mind.
"What I'm doing on the pitch to try to change his mind or trying to do something that he probably sees as a good thing," added Fernandes.
Amorim has said his side "need more Brunos" if they are to rediscover their former glories.
Of Fernandes' 15 goals this season, six have come in the last six games.
"I think he's so important for this team. You can see it by the numbers, and you can see from these last games, he's always the guy that scores," said Amorim.
"When you play for this team, you have to be prepared for the critics and I understand that former players had a lot of success here and the standards for them were so high that they see the things like that sometimes as black and white.
"In life sometimes it's not just black and white, there is some other colours and you have to understand the context.
"Again, he's always there, trying his best, so I'm really proud to coach a player like him."