Joe Ledley would like to see Eddie Howe manage Celtic but fears the Premier League remains too big a draw.
The Parkhead club have had talks with the former Bournemouth boss about possibly replacing Neil Lennon, who resigned in February.
Reports subsequently claimed Howe, 43, is waiting until the summer before he makes a decision about his future while he has been linked with Crystal Palace and Newcastle.
Ledley played at Celtic between the summer of 2010 and January 2014 before a three-and-a-half-year spell at Selhurst Park.
Speaking on The Celtic Huddle podcast, the 34-year-old midfielder, now at Newport, was asked if Crystal Palace is a better job than Celtic for Howe.
He said: “I don’t think so, I think Celtic would be a lot better for him.
“Celtic don’t get enough credit down south and people don’t realise how big they are.
“For me it is the greatest club I’ve ever played for and one of the biggest clubs in the UK.
“So I would like to see Eddie Howe at Celtic, I think he is a good manager, he plays football the right way, he is hungry, he wants to win stuff, you’ve seen what he’s done at Bournemouth.
“But with managers, they want to be in the Premier League and show people what they can do at the highest level.
“It is going to be an interesting one, it should have been done earlier if they were going to agree it but it doesn’t look good at the moment.
“I think Eddie will be looking at the Premier League.
“There are a few clubs down south I know are interested, Palace, Southampton I have heard as well.
“If you become manager of Celtic and do well you will be loved forever.
“If you win titles and do well in the Champions League you will go down in history.
“As a player that’s what you want to do, as a manager, hopefully Eddie will make the right decision and join Celtic. That’s down to him to make the decision.”
The former Cardiff and Derby player, capped 77 times for Wales, explained the different expectations and demands between Celtic and Palace.
He said: “You go from one club who demand a win every single game and you go to Crystal Palace and you are happy with a draw at certain places and if you get beat by Man City or Man United, it is expected.
“There is nowhere near as much pressure going into Crystal Palace.
“Don’t get me wrong, they have some fantastic players, Wilfried Zaha, Christian Benteke, there are a few fantastic players there.
“When I went to Palace, it was just to be in the Premier League.
“When you are down here in Wales or England it is the biggest league in the world and that’s what they want to watch.
“It was a great opportunity for me, I was gutted to leave Celtic, I would have liked to have had a few more years but the time was right for me I think.”
