Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher has issued an apology to Aston Villa, following controversial comments about the club that resulted in legal threats
Jamie Carragher, former footballer and tv pundit portrait before the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 Second Leg match between Liverpool FC and Galatasaray SK
Jamie Carragher has been threatened with legal action by Aston Villa(Image: (Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images))
Jamie Carragher has issued an apology to Aston Villa for "clumsy and wrong" comments about the club, after the Liverpool icon was threatened with legal action.
The defender-turned-pundit had been discussing a potential move for Villa boss Unai Emery to Manchester United, where he claimed that the Villans would "never be" the Red Devils, while hitting out at the supporters who were on his social media feed.
With the threat of legal action following from Aston Villa, Carragher has since taken to X to issue an apology to the Villa Park outfit and the fanbase. He said: "I’d like to apologize to Aston Villa, the owners & their fans. 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!"
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It's unclear whether Aston Villa will accept the apology, and drop the threat of a legal challenge, for a situation that has blown up in the space of a few hours.
The original comments came from the latest 'Stick to Football' podcast episode, where the topic of the Manchester United head coach came into question. With Michael Carrick under pressure after a difficult start to the season, Emery was floated as a potential candidate to take the position if it become available.
That has led to some debate about whether the Spaniard would take such a role, given his difficult experiences at PSG and Arsenal in the past, and the level of success he is currently having at Aston Villa. Carragher waded in on the debate and while he claimed a move could happen, the expletive nature of his discussion caused controversy.
He said: "Surely he would want that opportunity to manage a giant again. There is a chain in football, whether you like it or not. So Real Madrid will take Manchester United’s best player, they'll take [Cristiano] Ronaldo. There's very few above United, same with Liverpool.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
"But there will be teams below Aston Villa, and they’ll take their manager, or they'll take their players, so shut the f--- up Villa fans. Aston Villa will never be Man United.”
Carragher later tried to explain the discussion on The Overlap Daily, as he said: "I just think Unai Emery is the best manager in the league and if you're Man United, and you're thinking about getting a new manager, you're thinking 'well what's the best we can get'. Now I'm not saying he'll go, I'm saying if it was me, I would ask the question...
"Certain managers are good at a a certain level or certain clubs," he continued. "And that's Unai Emery. Reminds me a bit of Rafa really, Rafa Benitez. So he's had his go at PSG and Arsenal, hasn't quite worked. But Seville, you know Villarreal, Aston Villa, Valencia, done really well, but I still don't think the ego of anybody, whether you're a manager or a player, and someone said 'no you're just that level', as in like brilliant manager but that's... I think your own ego would go like 'no I'm not, I can', you know what I mean?
"That was just my point and it's grown arms and legs, and then I ended up telling them to f--- off which maybe I should have probably not done but it was all in jest because they've been all over my social timeline, so when I was saying f--- off, I meant f--- off off my socials."
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With Carragher since offering a formal apology, it remains to be seen what Aston Villa's response is, with the threat of legal action still present.