Hayes will not be at Celtic next season, as the winger has been released by the Hoops, as he recently announced on Instagram.
The Republic of Ireland international, who also operated as a left-back on occasions for the Glasgow giants, joined the Bhoys from Scottish Premiership rivals Aberdeen in the summer of 2017.
The former Reading and Leicester City man has disclosed the chat he had with Lennon earlier in the season, claiming that the Celtic boss told him that he wanted him to be part of his team for the 2020-21 campaign.
Hayes has also predicted Celtic to win the Scottish Premiership title next season even if they do not make new signings in the summer transfer window.
The winger told talkSPORT: “I spoke to (manager) Neil Lennon a couple of days before the Rangers game back in December.
“He was aware I was out of contract in six months and (said) he’d like me to stay. As the season went on we had similar conversations.
“He was quite keen for me to stay and saw me as part of his plans. I had the same conversations with (assistant manager) John Kennedy.”
Hayes told The Scottish Sun: “It’s going to be a tough task to stop Celtic given the gulf in financial capabilities between them and Rangers and the club’s been well run for a number of years.
“I’m sure if need be the club could probably go in and spend X amount of millions on players. That’s if they need to. At the minute I don’t think they need to.”
Stats
As stated on Celtic’s official website, Hayes made a total of 67 appearances in all competitions for the Hoops during his time at the club, scoring two goals in the process.
Lennon’s side will be aiming to win the Scottish Premiership title for the 10th season in a row in 2020-21.
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