Joe Ledley left Celtic to join Crystal Palace in 2014.
Joe Ledley has revealed on Open Goal, as transcribed by The Scottish Sun, that he did not want to leave Celtic for Crystal Palace.
Ledley started his professional club football career at Welsh club Cardiff City before moving to Celtic in Scotland in 2010.
The Wales international midfielder joined Palace in the Premier League from the Glasgow giants in January 2014.
The 32-year-old played for Palace until the end of the 2016-17 season before switching to Derby County.
The Welshman had his contract at Derby in the Championship in England mutually cancelled in January 2019, and the midfielder is now a free agent.
Ledley has looked back on the time when he had to leave Celtic for Palace, and has admitted that it was very hard to make the decision to part company with the Hoops.
Ledley said on Open Goal regarding his Celtic departure, as transcribed by The Scottish Sun: “I didn’t want to go at all. I had Fraser Forster come over, I had people ringing me. I had to jump on a plane as well – I had to get on a BA flight to London.
“I had five hours to decide. And they [Crystal Palace] were bottom of the league at the time. I was thinking, the last thing I want to do is go there, play ten games in the Premier League and they play in the Championship with Palace if we go down.
“So, obviously, I’ve got all of my stuff just in case. And while I am getting my stuff I started getting emotional. I was like, I don’t want to leave.”
Back to Celtic?
Ledley can still play for a few more years, and perhaps he would be a good signing for Celtic in the summer of 2019 as a free agent.
The Hoops do not need the Welshman right now, but handing him a short-term deal in the summer of 2019 will not be a bad idea.
Back in February 2019, some Celtic fans on Twitter did urge the club to sign Ledley, as reported by HITC Sport here.
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