Richard Keys tells Piers Morgan his Cristiano Ronaldo interview was 'badly-timed' live on air

Richard Keys believes Cristiano Ronaldo's bombshell interview with Piers Morgan for TalkTV was 'badly timed'.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner broke down his second stint with Manchester United in a 90-minute chat with Morgan earlier this month.

Ronaldo accused United manager Erik ten Hag of 'betraying' him while also putting club owners, the Glazer family, to rights for lack of investment.

Last week, Ronaldo officially left United via mutual consent, a sad end to his second stint at Old Trafford.

Keys and longtime colleague Andy Gray appeared on TalkTV themselves on Monday for an interview of their own with Morgan.

He claimed Ronaldo may have 'tainted' his United legacy with the interview before his departure. Keys also gave Morgan some advice of his own.

The former Sky Sports anchor said: "I think it's badly timed, I didn't think he needed to volunteer for the aggravation that it's brought him.

"Were I you, I would’ve said to him, 'Listen I’m very, very keen that you sit down and talk with me but let’s get you sorted out first. Because we don’t want to taint the legacy.

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"We don’t want you leaving Manchester United under a cloud and there’s no reason that you should.'"

Gray then put that question to Morgan, who was equipped with a reply of his own.

He explained: "No I don’t think so. I don’t think a few months' problems with Erik ten Hag and the coach he'd never heard of, [Ralf] Rangnick, is going to make any difference to the legacy of Ronaldo."

After being told United supporters won't forget Ronaldo's comments, Keys compared the potential backlash to what he and Gray received before leaving Sky Sports in 2011.

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Morgan admitted: "You know what Cristiano said to me, 'You’re never going to please everybody so you may as well be true to yourself."

Ronaldo is currently without a club after leaving United, with a decision on his next move up in the air.

He's currently playing at the World Cup with Portugal. Fernando Santos' side have qualified for the round of 16 after two Group H victories over Ghana and Uruguay.