Early career Born in
Morón, Buenos Aires, Ledesma grew up in
Puerto Madryn, in the province of
Chubut. He later returned to the capital, joining the youth system of
Boca Juniors in 1997 at the age of 14. In 2001, Ledesma moved to Italy and joined
Lecce, whose sporting director
Pantaleo Corvino decided to bring him to Salento. Initially assigned to the
Primavera squad, he made his first team – and
Serie A – debut on 10 March 2002, starting in a 1–2 away loss against
Atalanta. After
suffering relegation, Ledesma was promoted to the main squad. He scored his first goal for the club on 1 December 2002, netting the last in a 1–1
Serie B draw at
Hellas Verona. Ledesma appeared in 29 matches during
the campaign, as Lecce returned to the top tier at the first attempt. He scored his first goal in the main category on 9 November 2003, netting his team's second in a 2–2 away draw against
Perugia. Ledesma was an ever-present figure for the
Giallorossi during the following campaigns, being also
captain.
Lazio In July 2006, after suffering another relegation, Ledesma signed a four-year deal with
Lazio for a
€5.3 million fee. He made his debut for the club on 19 August 2006, starting in a 4–0
Coppa Italia home routing of
Rende. During his
first season in the capital, Ledesma established himself as a key player despite a difficult start. His first moment of magic came in December 2006 during a
Derby della Capitale against historical rivals
AS Roma, when he scored a strike from 25 metres out. He continued this good form until the end of the season when Lazio qualified for the
UEFA Champions League. He successively served as vice-captain and was a protagonist in Lazio's winning
Coppa Italia 2008–09 campaign. In July 2009, with his contract set to expire the following year, Ledesma was excluded from the first team due to disagreements with club chairman
Claudio Lotito and did not play any competitive games during the whole first half of the 2009–10 season. This led the player to formally ask the
Lega Calcio arbitration committee for a contract termination due to violation of its terms, only a few weeks after teammate
Goran Pandev had taken the same exact action. This was, however, turned down on 26 January 2010 on the grounds that Ledesma was occasionally involved in first-team activities. After being linked with a move to
Internazionale, he ultimately stayed at Lazio and, immediately after the replacement of head coach
Davide Ballardini with veteran manager
Edoardo Reja, he made his 2009–10 season debut on 14 February, being featured in the starting lineup in a 2–0 win at
Parma. Since his return to the pitch, Ledesma immediately established himself back into being a key player for the
biancazzurri. On 23 August 2010, Ledesma signed a new contract with Lazio, extending his link until 2015. In his 2010–11 campaign, he was one of the protagonists of Lazio's surprising start that led the Rome club to even top the Serie A table for a few weeks between October and November. Lazio ended their 2011–12 season campaign qualifying once again for the Europa League and only just missing out on Udinese by a goal difference in a Champions League spot. On 1 July 2015, Ledesma was released after not having his contract renewed. He appeared in 318 matches and scored 14 goals for Lazio, being honoured by the club after his departure.
Santos On 28 August 2015, Ledesma agreed to a contract with Brazilian club
Santos. He made his debut for the club on 18 October, coming on as a second-half substitute for
Renato in a 3–1 home win against
Goiás. On 6 January 2016, after being rarely used, Ledesma rescinded his contract.
Panathinaikos On 14 July 2016,
Panathinaikos officially announced the transfer of Argentinian midfielder. The 33-year-old centre midfielder, who played for Santos last season, has signed a two-year contract with the Greens for an undisclosed fee. On 18 August 2016, Ledesma along with
Marcus Berg was the scorer of goal from the penalty spot, helping Panathinaikos win the first leg of the
Europa League playoffs and is set to qualify for the group stage, as the Greens crushed Danish
Brøndby IF 3–0 at Leoforos stadium. On 2 October 2016, he scored with two penalty kicks, helping his club to achieve a 3–1 home win against
Asteras Tripolis for the 4th day of the
2016–17 season. On 28 December 2016, as expected,
Panathinaikos parted ways with Ledesma. The Greens have officially announced the news, while the 34-year-old midfielder seems to be heading to Italy.
Ternana Lugano Pro Piacenza On 5 September 2018, Ledesma returned to Italy once again for Serie C club
Pro Piacenza. Pro Piacenza experienced financial difficulties in late 2018 and all the players were released from contracts. ==International career==