Jamie Carragher apologises for Aston Villa comments after litigation threat

Carragher apologised for his criticism of Aston Villa and manager Emery after the club threatened legal action over his comments.

Jamie Carragher has apologised for his "clumsy" and "tongue-in-cheek" criticism of Aston Villa after the club threatened to take legal action against him. Villa released a statement on Friday night signed by chairman Nassef Sawiris, outlining plans to "initiate legal action against Jamie Carragher for his unacceptable insults about the club and its fans."

The Sky pundit's comments this week centred on links between Villa head coach Unai Emery and the Manchester United job. Carragher suggested Emery might be tempted by a higher-profile opportunity, saying "Aston Villa will never be Manchester United" and telling Villa fans to "shut the f**k up." He later doubled down on social media.

Following Villa's legal threat, Carragher issued an apology on X, writing: "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."