IKECHI ANYA is living, breathing proof that you should never give up on your dream.

Even when everything seems to have gone wrong, his own extraordinary, personal story, suggests there is always a chance that, with a bit of luck and lot of hard graft, we can all get to where we want to be.

These days Anya is a bona-fide star for the Scotland international team who could very soon become a Celtic player, and one seen as a marquee signing brought to the club to help Ronny Deila's team progress in the Champions League next season.

Not bad when you consider that, at 19 years old, he was stacking shelves at Tesco and playing for non-league Halesowen Town having been released by Wycombe Wanderers.

Few can come back from that pretty bleak situation, but it says much for the wee guy from Castlemilk that he has done so in some style.

Celtic are keen on Anya and have been for some time. That is no secret. The player did little to distance himself from a move to Parkhead when asked directly about the possibility after the Republic of Ireland game at the weekend.

His quotes were not quite of the 'come and get me' variety, but he was clearly open to the idea. Indeed, the 27-year-old seemed quite thrilled by the prospect.

Yesterday, I spoke to someone closely involved at Watford, Anya's club, and the message from down south was that, with just a year to go on his contract, and no indication of a new deal being forthcoming, all Celtic had to do was make a bid and the deal was done.

As if things are ever that straightforward.

Celtic fans who watch Scotland games will be more than a little pleased if their club could attract such an exciting talent, a player blessed with incredible speed and skill, and who loves to take on opponents in the wide areas. Isn't that, after all, what Celtic are supposed to be about?

Those who have studied Watford's form over the past two years - a smaller group, you would imagine - would not be quite as excited given Anya's inconsistency at club level.

Not that he hasn't had his great games, he has, but there has been a tendency for him to go missing, which is why he is liked if not loved.

"Anya hasn't been sensational for Watford, but he does like the biggest matches," was the feedback from Vicarage Road.

The fact, however, that this guy is playing football at all at a decent level is testament to his desire to make it in the game.

At 19, he moved to Spain to train at the Glenn Hoddle Academy. For those who are not acquainted with the former England manager's project, he set it up seven years ago to help players dumped by their clubs get back into the game.

Apparently, Anya thought his chance had gone and had to be talked into going by Hoddle's trusted assistant John Gorman, who has been a coach at Wycombe when Anya was there and saw something in the raw teenager.

Speaking last year, Hoddle revealed how far Anya had to come before he got himself a club and put himself on this incredible journey.

He said: "We took Ikechi down to the academy in Jerez in southern Spain and he was with us for eight or nine months. There we developed him as a footballer and taught him about movement, positioning and how to use his pace.

"We also had to work on giving him some self-belief. He couldn't see in himself what we could see and many of the lads down there were like that, given that their confidence had taken a big knock from being rejected.

"Hopefully, we made him realise he had the talent - but he was the one who put the hard work in. He had the hunger and wanted to do it and just needed re-shaping a little mentally and tactically. He was always ready to listen and take advice on board.

"One day we played against Sevilla's B team and drew 1-1 and he absolutely tore them apart. They instantly wanted to have a look at him again. He went back for another game and again looked incredible; so they signed him on a two-year contract and he became the first player to leave the academy with a professional contract."

Here is a thing about the current Celtic squad.

As good as they are, and we will find out just how good when it comes to the European games, there is a lack of star quality for lack of a better word.

It's not as if Deila doesn't have fine footballers, he does. But who is the hero? Who is the one the kids look up to?

If a deal can somehow be done then Steven Fletcher could be that. There has even been talk of a possible return of Aiden McGeady, who would certainly be seen as a hero figure.

But both players are on Premier League wages and would need to accept a significant drop to agree a move to Celtic Park and, from this point, it's difficult to see that happening.

So Celtic and Anya makes perfect sense. He is affordable and has the potential at least to be a real stand-out for the Scottish champions.

Plus, Anya's genuine pace would be a dangerous thing to have for a European night, especially away from home when playing on the counter-attack is key.

In many ways, this is an ideal move for club and player.