The idea of Joe Ledley’s Celtic return looks like it can have a big cross put through it.
According to Voetbalzone, the 77-times capped Welsh internationalist looks set to join Dutch side Fortuna Sittard. This apparently comes after holding talks with the club’s technical chief Sjoerd Ars in Maastricht.
Ledley has been without a club since leaving Derby County earlier this summer. He played just 27 times for the Rams, but couldn’t break into the squad under Frank Lampard.
Supporters were teased by Ledley on social media earlier on this week as he put up a cryptic post regarding his next move. Celtic fans in particular were asking him on his page as to whether he was returning to Parkhead. You can see our own piece on that here.
That never seemed to have a solid base to it, however. Neil Lennon hadn’t been linked with a move for the Welshman, and after recently signing Luca Connell, it wouldn’t have made much sense.
Ledley’s Celtic return isn’t likely to ever happen
Ledley hasn’t really played consistent football for a couple of years now. He may have made more than 150 appearances at Parkhead between 2010 and 2014, but he’s not the same player nowadays.
He has solid Premier League experience with Crystal Palace, where he also made just under 100 outings. But, at the end of the day, Ledley’s stock is on the decline, and we really didn’t need him back in the first place.
Celtic have a ridiculous amount of competition in the midfield as it stands. Connell’s signing means he will be looking to battle Scott Brown, Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie, Nir Bitton, and Eboue Kouassi in the engine room. If Ledley came back to Parkhead, consistent game-time was hardly ever going to be likely. We simply don’t need any more signings in that area.
It’ll be interesting to see how he performs in Holland if the move goes ahead. The Eridivisie is a high-paced division, and he’ll come up against plenty of quality at the upper end of the table.
Ledley is now 32-years of age, however, and coming back to Parkhead doesn’t look on the agenda anytime soon. There’s always the prospect of a coaching role one day, but Ledley had his chance to stay in Glasgow back in 2014. As always with our fellow players, we wish them all the best in their new ventures, and hopefully Ledley can prove he’s still got it in the Netherlands.
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