CHUNG-YONG Lee and Keith Andrews were the main absentees as Wanderers flew out to begin their three-match tour of Scandinavia yesterday.
South Korea international Chung-Yong has been given extra time off after competing for his country at the World Cup and will return to full training with the Whites on July 21.
That could enable him to play in four warm-up friendlies before the big kick-off at Watford on August 9, including games against Rochdale, Tranmere Rovers, Port Vale and Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem.
Andrews has been left behind to sort out his future – which looks likely to lie at Sheffield Wednesday.
The Irish midfielder has been offered a two-year deal by the Owls but has seen his move delayed because of negotiations with the Whites over nullifying the final year of his contract and the fact a protracted takeover at Hillsborough has restricted the amount of cash available to manager Stuart Gray.
Huddersfield Town have also been in the hunt for the 33-year-old but look to have lost out as they are only offering a one-year deal.
Chung-Yong is expected back in the camp at Euxton despite lingering speculation that he may be moving elsewhere this summer.
The winger played three group games for Korea, taking his overall World Cup appearances to seven, a record for a Bolton player.
But the team’s early exit from the competition was not well received – with players being pelted by sweets on their arrival at the airport by disgruntled home supporters.
The 26-year-old has also made more first team appearances than anyone else in the Wanderers squad, featuring 169 times since signing for the club from FC Seoul in 2009. The previous record holder was Zat Knight, who left the club this summer.
Otherwise it was a full complement of Wanderers who boarded the plane for Copenhagen yesterday morning, before heading to their training base in Malmo, Sweden, around 30 miles away.
Dougie Freedman’s side trained for the first time in their Sweden base yesterday afternoon and kick-off their pre-season with a game at Brondby in Denmark tomorrow.
They are likely to face club record signing Johan Elmander, who returned for a second stint with the Danish club this summer.
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