CARRA IN THE CLEAR! Aston Villa U-turn on legal threat after Carragher apology - but warn they won't tolerate any further insults

Aston Villa will no longer pursue legal action against Jamie Carragher after he apologised. He did so after chairman Nassef Sawiris' claimed he had disrespected the club and its fans with his recent comments.

Villa said on social media late on Friday night that they were initiating legal action against Carragher, but have since u-turned on that approach.

Their anger stemmed from comments made by Carragher on an episode of the Stick to Football last week, where he made it clear that Manchester United sat above Villa in the pecking order of football and their Spanish coach would consider an Old Trafford move.

"Surely he (Emery) would want that opportunity to manage a giant again," Carragher said. "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.

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"But there will be teams below Aston Villa, and they'll take their manager, or they'll take their players, so shut the **** up Villa fans. Aston Villa will never be Man United."

Carragher later owned his words and apologised at the weekend. He said: "I’d like to apologise to Aston Villa, the owners & their fans. My language this week was clumsy and wrong. I can assure Villa fans it was tongue in cheek but I can understand it’s not come across that way, so apologies.”

Villa have since dropped their threat of legal action against Carragher following his apology, reports BirminghamLive, but they maintain such negative comments will not be tolerated again.

United's dire start to the season has seen them consider alternatives to Michael Carrick should they be forced into a change. Emery is among the names linked with the role following his stellar work at Villa Park.

Since being hired by the Midlands club Emery, who endured a forgettable stint as Arsenal boss, has twice led Villa into the Champions League and won the Europa League - furthering his own legacy in the tournament.

After a summer exodus and a slow start, Villa have begun to come good and are unbeaten in their last five games. They face a troubled United side this Sunday.