Villa are unlikely to take the matter any further after the apology landed, according to a Football365 report sourced to The Athletic. The resolution has arrived within 24 hours of a legal threat issued personally by chairman Nassef Sawiris, in one of the strangest standoffs of the Premier League season.
The threat landed on X on Friday night. In a statement signed off by Sawiris, Villa said the club would “initiate legal action against Jamie Carragher for his unacceptable insults about the club and its fans”, in the version carried by Al Jazeera.
Carragher is a former Liverpool defender who now works as a lead pundit for Sky Sports and features on “Stick to Football”, the podcast fronted by Gary Neville. His remarks on the latest episode of that show set off the row.
The pundit told Villa fans there is “a chain in football, whether you like it or not”, suggested Villa would always sit below the biggest clubs in that hierarchy and told supporters who had pushed back on his earlier suggestion that Unai Emery could fancy a move to Manchester United to “shut the f*** up”.
Read also: Donald Trump’s NFL rant draws sharp response: ‘It’s like he’s trying to lose’
The apology on X
Writing on X on Saturday afternoon, Carragher said:
“I’d like to apologise to Aston Villa, the owners & their fans. My language this week was clumsy & wrong.”
He added that the comments had been meant as tongue in cheek but conceded they had not come across that way.
Why Sawiris went legal
The row was sparked by Carragher’s earlier claim that Emery could fancy replacing Michael Carrick at Manchester United. Carrick is still United’s head coach going into Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Roma at Old Trafford, with his position due for review during the next international break, the Irish Times reported on Sunday.
Read also: Mayweather names his next fight target
For Sawiris, the swearing was not the main issue. Villa sources told Football365, citing The Athletic, that the chairman wanted to deter United from a formal move for Emery and to send a wider message that clubs with Villa’s ambition expect the same respect as the traditional elite.
Villa consider the matter closed.
Read also: Bradley Lowery’s mother breaks silence on Coventry incident
