Neil Lennon believes Olivier Ntcham has ‘settled down’ at Celtic after the Hoops star previously claimed he wanted to leave.

The 23-year-old told French outlet L'equipe in the summer he felt that leaving the Parkhead club would better his development after gaining interest from Marseille, Roma and Porto.

Now, the Celtic boss claims the Frenchman could be thinking he should stay where he is after the pair talked about his previous comments.

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Lennon said:  “I saw a difference in Olivier, even before Rome.

“We had a chat about his comments earlier in the season — whether they were misconstrued, there may have been some truth in them.

“But he has really settled down now, and he is training very well.”

He also went on to praise Ntcham’s performance in the Europa League after he scored the winning goal in Celtic’s 2-1 win over Lazio in Rome last month.

The Hoops gaffer confirmed the midfielder will start against Rennes in their next Europa League clash.

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He said: “He’s been brilliant in the games he has played. He’s been unfortunate not to play more often, that’s just down to the quality of the rest.

“He is happy to be a part of it. The goal in Rome may just have changed his outlook.

“He is some player, really high calibre in his manipulation of the ball. We are seeing more consistency from him now when previously he was more up and down.

“Certainly, on the ball he has fantastic technique and he works hard at that.

“Going the other way, defensively, he is improving that aspect as well.

“Olivier and Odsonne Edouard have a really good understanding on the pitch, and they are quite close away from it.

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“They are two very creative, penetrating players. I think they like playing in the same team.

“The way Olivier is seeing things now, he might feel: ‘Why shouldn’t I stay here?’ Things are going well now. We’ve beaten Lazio away and he played a huge part in that.

“Maybe that makes him think the grass isn’t always greener, and he can fulfil a lot of things at Celtic for whatever length of time he’s here.”

Celtic are already through the last 32 of the Europa League and sit top of Group E, and a win against Rennes would secure their position at the top with a game to spare.