Jeremie Frimpong is getting ready to line up against his former Side in the Europa League on Thursday night.

The right back only spent 18 months at Celtic before the club turned a major profit on the former Man City youngster.

It was a bolt from the blue when Leverkusen approached the club in January and thrashed out a deal that prematurely ended the player’s Celtic career.

When Jeremie left, Neil Lennon was still in charge and the Irishman was credited with bringing him to Celtic in the first place. The former Celtic manager spoke back in January of feeling ‘let down’ by Jeremie and Lennon also hinted the player’s exit was on the cards for months after he blanked contract talks.

Speaking back in January [RecordSport], Lennon said:

“I feel a bit let down because we felt we could progress him further and we offered him a new deal which would have kept him here for another two or three years but it was down to the player’s personal ambition.

“Whether that’s the right way for him remains to be seen. For us, though, from a business point of view – and maybe from a footballing point of view as well – when a player’s mind is set like that it’s very difficult to bring him back round.

“It didn’t come as a surprise at all. This has been in the offing for the past couple of months. We offered the player talks for a new deal a few months back but he declined and made it clear that he wanted to leave, despite our best efforts to keep him.”

Frimpong claimed he never actively looked for a way out of Celtic Park but when the chance came to play in Bundesliga came up, he wanted to move on, which would contradict Neil Lennon’s version of events.

“It will be nice to return to a stadium where I have had success but now I return to win not to play for Celtic but to try and win against them.”Frimpong told RecordSport.

“We know the atmosphere the fans will create.

“I know that better than anybody – but we just have to focus and play as we know we can.

“I was not looking to leave Celtic, when the chance came to join Leverkusen it was not something I was actively looking to do.

“I was happy with my teammates, happy with the fans.

“The Bundesliga is one of the top three leagues in Europe and when you get that chance it was impossible for me to say no.

“I didn’t know of their interest in me.

“It was a shock – but the chance to play for one of the best clubs in Germany was not something I could turn down.”

It’s been all change at Celtic since Jeremie left the club in January. The squad is almost unrecognisable and we have a new manager.

I’m sure the wee man will get a warm welcome but when kick off comes all friendships go out the window for 90 minutes.

Celtic really need to make home advantage count in the Europa League if they want to progress. They’ll have to play above themselves to land a result against the Bundesliga outfit.

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