Chung-Yong Lee has gone to the Asian Cup: How will Bolton Wanderers cope?

As the final whistle blew on Sunday afternoon and the Wanderers succumbed to a 2-1 by Huddersfield, we waved goodbye not only to Neil Lennon’s unbeaten record, but also our little Korean genius Chung-Yong Lee.

As the midfielder jets off to Australia to join his South Korea teammates in training for the Asian Cup, his team back in Lancashire are going to have to fill his attacking void for the best part of a month. It’s a position that needs addressing pretty soon.

Having gone through a complete resurgence under the reigns of Neil Lennon, Chungy’s switch to an attacking role with more freedom has led to him becoming a pleasure to watch. Gliding across the pitch, creating space with his movement and providing those killer through balls.

Lennon has sung his praises many times, even stating that he has ‘ran out of superlatives’ for his dynamic midfielder, but he needs to act sharpish in the January transfer window if the whites are to have any chance of sustaining their push for the Play-offs.

I personally don’t believe that the manager should change the 4-2-3-1 formation that has included many of the same faces from the past few games. There are clean sheets and goals to prove so.

With goal scoring midfielders, Mark Davies and Max Clayton injured for the long-term, there’s no doubt that Lennon could do with some backing to bring in some new faces.

Let’s take a look at some of the potential transfer targets that could replace Chungy’s attacking edge in his absence.

Nick Powell

It had emerged last week that Leicester boss, Nigel Pearson, is ready to terminate Manchester United starlet Nick Powell’s loan contract, following accusations about his attitude.

The midfielder has only made 3 appearances for the Foxes, losing each of them, and has been described by the Leicester staff as having a ‘laid-back’ approach to training.

Many will find this surprising, given that during his loan-spell at Wigan last year he was their joint-top Championship goal scorer with 7, scoring 12 in all competitions.

Powell, who made a name for himself at his hometown club Crewe Alexandra, is apparently already in talks with Bolton and could be a lucrative gamble for Neil Lennon.

Self-described as ‘best suiting the number-10 role’, Nick Powell could provide the creativity and pace we need to allow our pensioners up front to flourish.

Ravel Morrison

Keeping with the theme of Manchester United academy products that aren’t living up to their potential, Ravel Morrison has returned from his Cardiff City loan spell early.

The 21 year-old from Wythenshawe has also not always seen eye-to-eye with current West Ham manager Sam Allardyce, with the club preparing to terminate his contract.

The positive side of Morrison’s career has seen him do well in the England U-21 setup and score incredible goals like this one against Spurs last season -

Unfortunately, the forward has also been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. On top of being charged for homophobic comments on Twitter, he was accused of plotting against his girlfriend and is to stand trial for assault charges next month.

With all that being said, Sir Alex Ferguson spoke highly of his potential and with Neil Lennon’s brilliant one-on-one approachable style with his players, he could potentially find himself a star.

See you in a month Chungy!

Bolton will obviously feel Lee’s absence heavily as he provided so many of the goals and assists in the recent run of games.

Let’s just hope that Lennon finds the right replacement and the Korean Republic don’t stay in the tournament too long!