CHUNG-YONG Lee could yet be sold in the January window, despite injuring himself at the Asia Cup.

Wanderers boss Neil Lennon refused to rule out that a deal could yet be done for the South Korean star this month – with Crystal Palace and Sunderland among a handful of clubs understood to be in the frame to sign him, including some from abroad.

The 26-year-old playmaker will have scans today to assess whether he has a hairline fracture in his right leg, which would keep him out for three to four weeks.

It was feared the injury would wreck any chance Wanderers had of cashing in on the player, who is then likely to move for nothing at the end of his contract in the summer.

But Lennon insists a sale could still be on the cards, so long as the injury is not a serious one.

“The clubs are playing the game like we all do,” he told The Bolton News. “We are confident something will get done.

“We are confident we could get money in for him. The injury may or may not affect that scenario but there is interest in him, from the Premier League interest in him as well as from elsewhere.”

With so few attacking options in his squad Lennon could yet get the ideal scenario and have Chung-Yong available for the FA Cup game at Liverpool on January 24.

The Wanderers boss has hinted he would like to see the Korean star stick around until the end of the season and help his team push towards the play-offs, although the chances of him signing an extended contract currently look thin, with the player’s representatives confirming last week to Korean journalists that the former FC Seoul man wanted a move back to the Premier League.

Lennon faces a tough choice – the finances would come in handy to make signings but replacing the influential star would most likely be out of the club’s price range.

But the Whites boss is reserving judgement until the club’s medical staff have seen Chung-Yong’s injury first hand and made their own diagnosis.

“When I got the text message and thought ‘oh no’ but it’s not too bad, hopefully,” he said. “It could work in our favour, these things sometimes do.

“He got a kick in the area where his fracture was but it may not be as serious as first thought – that’s the recommendation we got from our people here.

“If it’s a hairline fracture then you’re looking three to four weeks out.

“If it isn’t, he could be fit for Liverpool. We’ll wait and see what happens when we get him.

Chung-Yong was injured playing against Oman in South Korea’s opening group game last Saturday and was taken immediately back to Seoul for medical tests to see if he could compete in the latter stages of the tournament.

It is understood Wanderers have done everything they could to bring the midfielder back to England under their own control.

“You want to have a look at him because he’s our player at the end of the day,” Lennon added.