Aston Villa say they will take legal action against Jamie Carragher

Aston Villa say they will take legal action against Jamie Carragher over comments in which the former Liverpool defender told the club’s fans to “shut the [expletive] up” and said Villa would never be Manchester United.

The club announced the move in a social-media statement signed by chairman Nassef Sawiris, accusing Carragher of making “unacceptable insults”. It said it would “not allow anyone to stop our ascension in English and European football”.

Carragher made the remarks on the Stick to Football podcast while discussing whether Villa manager Unai Emery might consider taking charge of Manchester United. He said there was “a chain in football”, with bigger clubs able to attract the players and managers of smaller ones.

After Villa fans criticised him, Carragher said on social media that telling them to “shut up” was a joke. He later said on the Overlap Daily that he was not predicting Emery would leave, but that United should consider him. Carragher added that the comment had been meant “in jest”.