As a teenager Jonny Hayes turned his back on Celtic to step, literally, into the unknown.

Unable to point to Reading on a map, the Irish kid bucked the received wisdom of his Celtic-supporting family and announced that his football journey would begin somewhere none of them had heard of.

Brendan Rodgers was the catalyst for the decision, with the current Hoops boss working his charm on the impressionable teenager to such an extent that an apparently impenetrable decision was redressed.

Read more: Celtic's Champions League tie against Linfield could be switched to a Glasgow first-leg

Hayes has had no cause to regret his choice in his career until now that has seen him enjoy successful spells at Inverness and Aberdeen, but he admitted that he thought his chance of pulling on a Celtic jersey had long gone.

Life has gone full circle since then with Hayes once more acquiescing to the call of Rodgers.

“I had never even heard of Reading before I went there,” said Hayes. “I didn’t know where it was. I had to justify myself to Celtic fans who were family members.

“My uncle travels over almost every week and I had to explain to him that I was going to Reading, a Championship club on the outskirts of London over Celtic, and there weren’t too many boys who would have done that.

“It was purely down to Brendan and the chance of working with him. In the back of my mind I have always thought that if I got the chance to work with him again that I would jump at it.

“I had the chance to go to 10 or 12 clubs [as a kid]. I narrowed it down to either Celtic or Man City.

Read more: Celtic's Champions League tie against Linfield could be switched to a Glasgow first-leg

“I spoke to my family and decided to go to Celtic. I didn’t even want to go on trial to Reading - I can remember speaking to my dad and saying: ‘I don’t want to go, I’ve made up my mind’.

“But six days later Brendan had changed my view completely. I told my dad: ‘I don’t want to go anywhere else. I just want to go to Reading and work for him’.

“It wasn’t so much what he said, it was just the way he was. I spent six days training with him and just being in his company, going out for lunch, having a chat with him, changed my mind.

“You could see how much he loved football. You can still see it now. He is enthusiastic about everything to do with football, even more so now it’s Celtic. The start of the conversation was pretty much, regardless of everything else, it’s Celtic.”

Hayes left Hampden last month to go to international duty with Martin O’Neill’s Ireland squad but it was never going to be an opportunity to avoid any transfer chat.

News of Celtic’s interest in Hayes emerged the Sunday afternoon following the William Hill Scottish Cup final – a game in which the then Aberdeen player scored the opening goal – and O’Neill was keen for regular updates on the player’s situation.

“Pretty much every day everyone was asking,” he smiled. “Himself, Roy [Keane], Steve [Walfrid], the backroom staff, everyone is a Celtic fan. Everyone was asking ‘are you going to join Celtic’. I’m saying: ‘I don’t know, I hope so’. I didn’t know what was going on till I came back. “Everybody in the squad is pretty much a Celtic fan too. When the news broke, everybody was saying ‘you’ve got to go to Celtic’.”

Unusually, Hayes scorns the chance to immerse himself in football when not at his job. The player revealed he eschews the sports channels on television and would rarely perch himself on the couch to take in a game that he wasn’t participating in.

Read more: Celtic's Champions League tie against Linfield could be switched to a Glasgow first-leg

It has been a lifelong scenario – playing with a ball while others watched – but he might need to tune in over the coming months to see the kid of opponents that he could be matched with should Celtic make it into the Champions league group stages.

“I watch the odd game - Barcelona, Champions League, stuff like that - but not really. I don’t even have SkySports in the house so I don’t watch football,” said Hayes. “I prefer to play it. Any spare time I like to spend with my son. Back home, when people were in watching certain games on certain nights, like Man Utd-Liverpool, I used to come home from school, drop my bags and go straight out with the football.

“There’s a long way to go with qualifiers. There are some tough games in Europe. As much as I know the Champions League atmosphere at Celtic Park, I know there is still a long way to go to get there.

“There are going to be some tough games. People come to Celtic Park with thoughts of turning us over and we have to be prepared for that. If we get there eventually, I’ll look forward to it but it’s still a long, long way away."

Having been an unwilling spectator throughout his career, Hayes is unlikely to enjoy watching any time soon. And as he prepares to be introduced to his team-mates on Thursday at Lennoxtown, he doesn’t plan on too much time spent watching the action unfold in front of him.

“There is obviously a sense of achievement getting here, but now I have signed I am excited,” he said. “I really am looking forward to it. I can’t remember the last time I looked forward to coming back into pre-season.

“As soon we got the all-clear with the medical and I knew it was happening I couldn’t wait to sign that piece of paper and get it confirmed. I then started thinking: ‘What if something happens to me? What if, God forbid, I am in a car crash or something?’

“I wrapped myself in cotton wool for a few days until we got it over the line. I am excited. I spoke to Chris this morning and he told me some of the lads are in today and some are back on Thursday.

“I thought saying as I’m in Glasgow I might as well go in and train today. I just want to get back onto the football pitch and kick a ball about.”