Cristiano Ronaldo bemused by Bruno Fernandes's Sporting Lisbon stay

Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed that "nobody knows" why Bruno Fernandes has not left Sporting Lisbon.

Fernandes was strongly linked with both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur before the English transfer window closed ahead of the start of the new Premier League campaign.

The 24-year-old has remained with Sporting, though, and while discussing the future of the Portuguese national team, Ronaldo admitted that he was puzzled by his international teammate's situation.

"In the national team you have [Joao] Cancelo, Bruno Fernandes, who nobody knows why he doesn't leave," Ronaldo told TVI. "In the national team, you have a lot of talent, so I see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Ronaldo came through the youth system at Sporting before joining Manchester United in 2003, becoming the most expensive teenager in English football history in the process.

The now 34-year-old then spent nine seasons with Real Madrid ahead of a move to Juventus, where he managed 28 goals in all competitions during the 2018-19 campaign.

Fernandes, meanwhile, has struck 49 times in 112 appearances for his Portuguese club, who handed the playmaker a new five-year contract last summer.