BILLED as the “blue chip investment” by Dougie Freedman but unfavoured under Neil Lennon, is Jay Spearing’s Wanderers career reaching its logical conclusion?

Just 16 months ago Wanderers fans were chanting for their club to sign the Liverpudlian ball-winner, who had proved such a driving force in a near-miss on the play-offs the season before.

But when Neil Lennon revealed on Thursday he was weighing up whether to sell a midfielder currently consigned to the substitutes' bench, his admission did not come as much of a surprise to those same terrace patrons.

Has Spearing’s stock really fallen that far? Well, not quite.

That Premier League clubs such as West Brom and Aston Villa are monitoring his situation tells you his reputation has survived just fine in the top flight, where he cut his teeth at Anfield.

Lennon also went to great lengths to say he had no complaints at all with the midfielder’s attitude during his time on the sidelines, and that he remains a key figure behind the scenes.

Rather the decision to tout Spearing for sale boils down to two key issues – one being the all-important finances, the second being the 26-year-old just does not appear to have the dynamism Lennon is looking for.

Darren Pratley and Neil Danns have been mainstays in the deep-lying role since Spearing was hauled off at half-time in the defeat at Norwich City back in late October.

That Halloween horror show was the last time Spearing started a game for the Whites, his input since being restricted to helping to see games out as an extra defensive body.

Simply put, Freedman’s 4-2-3-1 system relied heavily on Spearing – and often another current midfield outcast Medo Kamara – sitting deep to protect the back four, at a time when the back four really looked like it needed protecting.

Since Lennon’s arrival, and perhaps more so defensive coach Johan Mjallby, the two deeper-lying midfielders have been given more licence to get themselves forward, as evidenced by Pratley’s much-improved goal-scoring form in recent weeks.

The system has barely changed, just its emphasis on attack. And it appears Lennon made up his mind fairly early in the piece that Spearing did not have the athleticism he wanted in his central midfielders to get back and forth.

Lennon refused to rule out that changing in the future – and if the right buyer cannot be found this month, he insists Spearing will remain a contender in his first-team plans.

“He is a good player but he has found it difficult because our midfield have played so well,” he told The Bolton News. “I had a brief chat with him this week and we played him in the reserves to give him some game time.

“He can still force his way into my plans. But just the way we are playing at the minute and the style is finding it difficult to break through.

“For me, Danns and Pratley have been really pivotal since I came through the door. So, he has got to fight for his place like everyone else.”

Wanderers invested around £1.5million in Spearing – a fee Freedman was confident they would recoup further down the line when he pressed Eddie Davies hard to make the signing in August 2013.

“Jay Spearing is fantastic business, rock solid, blue chip investment for this football club and I don’t think we have done enough of them,” he said last summer.

Lennon needs to generate funds for his own rebuilding plans and must see the former Liverpool man as one of the most reliable ways to bring in an income this month.

It may be that Spearing isn't around to enjoy a return to Anfield in the FA Cup, although the "interest" Lennon mentions is yet to evolve into a firm bid, it is understood.

“There will be interest in a player of that calibre,” he said.

“He understands our position so he is not making waves. I am not patronising him – he is a very good professional.

“He has not given me one day's trouble and he is brilliant in the dressing room.

“He may feel he needs to go and play, so we will have to weigh that up.

“If there is interest in Jay, we would miss him. He is our club captain so we will have a lot to think about it if that situation arises.”