Lennon responds to Ledley claims

Neil Lennon has responded to claims from Joe Ledley that he was forced out of Celtic.

The midfielder moved to Crystal Palace on the final day of the January transfer window and told BBC Radio Wales that he was ready to sign a new contract when Celtic accepted the offer from the London side.

Celtic and Ledley had been in talks for a number of months over a new deal but faced with the prospect of losing the player in the summer for nothing decided that it was best to accept an offer from Palace which has been reported as anything between £250,000 and £800,000

Answering Ledley’s claims Lennon said: “The contract was on the table for quite a period of time. It was not  as if it was a last minute thing. It was there on the table for at least two to three months.

“I think there was a big part of him that wanted to stay and part of him that wanted to go play in the Premier League as well.

“It was unfortunately a scenario where we lost out and lost a very good player.”

Ledley joined Celtic on a Bosman deal from Cardiff City in the summer of 2010 as one of Neil Lennon’s first signings.

His move to Crystal Palace sees him become the third Celtic player to move to the Premiership in less than a year with Ledley joining Gary Hooper and Victor Wanyama who brought in £17m when they joined Norwich City and Southampton last summer.