Jamie Carragher has apologised for his comments about Aston Villa after the club announced plans to take legal action against him for what they described as “unacceptable insults” made by the pundit in a podcast.
Carragher told Villa fans to “shut the f— up” after facing criticism for suggesting Unai Emery should consider taking the Manchester United job.
Villa responded on Friday evening with a statement on X signed by chairman Nassef Sawiris which said the club would initiate legal action against the former Liverpool and England defender because the club would “not allow anyone to stop our ascension in English and European football.”
“I’d like to apologise to Aston Villa, the owners & their fans,” Carragher said in a post on X on Saturday.
“My language this week was clumsy & wrong. I can assure Villa fans it was tongue in cheek but I can understand it’s not come across that way, so apologies. Good luck today UTV! [Up The Villa].”
Carragher, who is a pundit on Sky Sports in the UK and CBS in the United States, made his remarks on the Stick to Football podcast while discussing the prospect of Emery replacing Michael Carrick at Old Trafford.
The 48-year-old argued there was a hierarchy in football, saying “Aston Villa will never be Man United.”
Carragher said: “I’m not trying to annoy Villa fans but there is a chain in football, whether you like it or not.
“So Real Madrid will take Man United’s best player, they’ll take [Cristiano] Ronaldo. There’s very few above United, the same with Liverpool.
“But there will be teams below Aston Villa and they [Villa] will take their manager or they will take their players, so shut the f— up Villa fans. Aston Villa will never be Man United.”
Villa host Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday.
Information from PA contributed to this story.
