Joey Barton admits he went too far with his insults toward former teammate Dietmar Hamann on Twitter.
The former Manchester City pals engaged in a war of words on the social networking site after QPR midfielder Barton, on loan with Marseille, criticised the pairs old club Newcastle United for failing to sign Loic Remy.
Hamann took offence to the negative words against Magpies managing director Derek Lambias which sparked an online spat in which Barton posted abusive personal comments toward the German who threatened legal action.
However, a full page apology from Barton has been accepted by Hamann with the matter now to be dropped.
"On Monday evening tweets exchanged between Dietmar Hamann and I went beyond the boundaries of banter, opinion and common sense," Barton posted on both is personal website and Twitter.
"I accept that my comments were offensive, untrue and related to matters of a personal nature, of which I had no knowledge.
"I have apologised to Dietmar personally and now wish to apologise through the same social media channels that I used to make them, as well as my own website.
"I appreciate my comments have caused Dietmar and his family some distress and I fully regret that.
"I also appreciate that my comments should not have been made, as they could have damaged Dietmar's reputation, which should remain intact as a fantastic player and ambassador for German Football, as well as the game in general.
"Dietmar and I have now agreed to draw a line under the unfortunate exchange and neither of us will be making any further comments on the subject."
