Hayes is widely credited for launching the club’s incredible success story by finding and totally remodelling the training ground as well as recruiting the then unknown manager Luka Elsner.
In 2021, Hayes decided to set up his new sports consultancy, which advises some of the world’s biggest clubs as well as one of the game’s most exciting young managerial talents, Will Still.
During his six years at the paper, he used his great language skills to secure exclusive interviews with world-famous players and managers such as Ronaldinho, Eric Cantona, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Johann Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Serge Blanco, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Didier Drogba, Aime Jacquet and Zinedine Zidane.
After a brief spell at Setanta, during which time he produced as well as directed an exclusive documentary on Didier Drogba, Hayes joined Sky Sports in September 2007 as their Champions League reporter.
During his time with Sky, Hayes interviewed such stars as Eric Cantona, Gianfranco Zola, Michel Platini, Karim Benzema, Patrice Evra, Lionel Messi, Gerard Houllier, Didier Drogba and Kaka.