Ledley signs on at Celtic

Celtic have completed the signing of midfielder Joe Ledley on a four-year contract following the 23-year-old's exit from Cardiff City.

Stoke City and Roma also had talks with the Wales international.

But before heading to the United States on his new club's pre-season tour, he said: "Celtic is a massive club.

"This is the right time to leave Cardiff and look at my career. Hopefully we can win the league and cups and I can play in Europe too."

The announcement of the Ledley deal came as Hull City confirmed that midfielder Jimmy Bullards' proposed season-long loan to Celtic had fallen through.

We are pleased to have beaten off competition from a number of English Premiership clubs for his signature Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell

It is believed that Celtic were waiting to sign Ledley until the season officially ended with the World Cup final to ensure they did not have to pay compensation to Cardiff.

The Glasgow club believe that because it is a cross-border move they owe nothing because he has turned 23, while Stoke would have been required to pay a fee.

And Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell told his club website: "Joe is a highly rated and sought-after young player.

"We are pleased to have beaten off competition from a number of English Premiership clubs for his signature and we are sure he will be a great addition to our squad.

"We will continue to do all we can to ensure that we bring quality players to the club."

Ledley is Celtic's third summer signing since Neil Lennon was confirmed as manager after his spell as caretaker boss last season.

Versatile defender Charlie Mulgrew has arrived from Aberdeen, while South Korea right-back Cha Du-Ri signed after parting with Freiburg and Lennon was delighted to secure another of his targets.

"Clearly, there were a number of clubs very interested in signing him, so we are very pleased he has chosen to come to Celtic, somewhere I think he can be a tremendous success," he stated.

Cardiff manager Dave Jones had last week insisted that "training compensation" would still be due even if it was a cross-border transfer for the player, who joined the Bluebirds as a nine-year-old and went on to make 238 first-team appearances, scoring 29 goals, and also played 32 times for Wales.

"I'm surprised," he said. "I thought he wanted Premiership football but we had no contact from any Premiership club except Stoke."

However, Jones insisted that there had been no cash offer from Stoke and that they had wanted a player swap, which Cardiff rejected, with the midfielder turning down the offer of a new contract at the Championship club.

Meanwhile, Stoke manager Tony Pulis expressed disappointment at Ledley's decision and added that there had been no contact from Celtic regarding midfielder Liam Lawrence, who has indicated that he would like to join the Glasgow outfit.

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