WHEN Alex Baptiste was nudged out of the door on loan last summer with little pomp or ceremony, his Wanderers career looked as good as finished.

Confidence shot after a wretched second-half of the season in a Whites shirt, the former Blackpool man was ushered out on loan to Blackburn Rovers and would never have expected to report back to Euxton again.

But that’s the exactly the situation faced by Baptiste in a fortnight as he comes back – however warily – into a club which has never really felt like home.

Given the changes made since Freedman was in charge 12 months ago, it may feel like a fresh start.

The last time Baptiste turned out for Bolton was in a 1-0 win over Barnsley in April last year, and of that starting line-up, only four players survive, one of which – Jay Spearing – is in a very similar situation.

More importantly, this will be the first time Baptiste will have worked with Neil Lennon, who ran several checks on his progress at Ewood Park last term and appears to be a fan.

It’s an old cliché in football that a player like Baptiste could ‘feel like a new signing’ but for the Wanderers boss – starved of defensive choices last season and now without long-time target Craig Morgan – it seems entirely appropriate.

Able to play on either side of defence but arguably stronger as a centre-half, Baptiste seems to fit the bill completely.

You have to question, however, if bridges were burned last summer when Freedman sent him packing on loan just a few days before the pre-season tour of Scandinavia, in order to sign Kevin McNaughton on loan.

The former manager’s relationship with Baptiste appeared to have broken down entirely at that point, the exact reasons for which were never entirely made clear.

At the end of the previous campaign Baptiste had given away several penalties, one of which contributed to a red card at Yeovil – undoubtedly his low point.

Freedman vowed to make changes after that, and by the following season only Tim Ream survived from the same back four.

Part of the reason why Baptiste was sent out to Blackburn was financial – the club having been forced to offer a weighty contract the previous summer to beat Premier League club Crystal Palace and others to secure him on a free transfer.

With 12 months remaining on his contract, his salary could come into play again. Lennon is keen to take a look at Baptiste before leaping to a decision but knows only too well how tight his budget is at present.

“I haven’t worked with him before,” Lennon told The Bolton News at the end of the season. “But he’ll come back in and we’ll sit down.

“We’ll have to assess his situation and whether there’s a chance he can come in and play for me because he’s under contract with the club.

“I haven’t really had a chance to look at it, and whether he wants to play here having been away for a year, I don’t know. But that’s something we’ll sit down and talk about with Alex and his representatives.”

Baptiste did not hide his own desire to stay at Blackburn last season, where his career appeared rejuvenated.

Rovers boss Gary Bowyer went on record to stay he would have him back in a shot – but like Lennon, his own hands are tied financially.

Blackburn are still battling with Financial Fair Play rules and are currently in a transfer embargo, meaning any new arrival has to be accounted for down to the last penny. Were Wanderers to indicate they were ready to offload, it would be a safe bet to assume Bowyer would be interested.

Whether the loss of Morgan to Wigan Athletic has made the chances of Wanderers being ready to lose Baptiste less likely remains to be seen.

Lennon clearly wants another centre-half to replace the outgoing Matt Mills – Leicester City’s Liam Moore the latest name linked with a loan move to the Macron – but to make a success of Baptiste would make more financial sense.

Back at the start of Baptiste’s Bolton stay he was one of the few positives in a record-breaking bad start to the season, scoring goals from an unfamiliar full-back role.

If the player can forgive and forget the manner of his departure last summer, then Whites fans are also likely to welcome him back with open arms.