Aston Villa said they will initiate legal action against Jamie Carragher over what the club described as “unacceptable insults” about the club and its fans. The announcement came in a social media statement signed by chairman Nassef Sawiris.
Villa statement
Releasing an official statement on X signed by chairman Sawiris on Friday, the club declared: “Aston Villa will initiate legal action against Jamie Carragher for his unacceptable insults about the Club and its fans. Aston Villa will not allow anyone to stop our ascension in English and European football.”
Carragher's original remarks
Earlier, Carragher suggested Unai Emery would be interested in becoming Manchester United head coach. On the Stick to Football podcast, Carragher 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 did it with Ronaldo. And there will be teams below Aston Villa, and they'll take their players or manager, so shut the f*** up Aston Villa fans. Aston Villa will never be Manchester United.”
Carragher's response
Defending his comments online, Carragher wrote: “It was a joke after the stick Villa fans have given me over saying Emery may fancy joining Man Utd. I hope these clown clips show me praising Emery/Villa like I have done for years & saying how pleased I was you won in Istanbul.”
He expanded on that on the Overlap Daily, saying: “I just think Unai Emery is the best manager in the league and if you're Man Utd you're thinking 'what's the best we can get?'. I'm not saying he'll go - I'm just saying if it was me I'd ask the question. I think your own ego if someone said 'that's your level' would say 'no I'm not'. That was my point. It's grown arms and legs.”
Further clarification
Carragher reiterated his message to Villa fans had been meant “in jest”.
