EIDUR Gudjohnsen sure picked the wrong time to ask for a pay rise at Wanderers – and his legend could suffer as a result.

After last season’s fairytale comeback, it now looks increasingly likely that the Icelander’s story will reach an ignominious conclusion at Bolton.

Now in advanced talks with Chinese Superleague side Shijiazhuang Ever Bright over a mega money deal, hopes of the popular striker seeing out an illustrious playing career at the club he called “home” last season look worryingly thin.

And that is bound to leave a sour taste in the mouth for Neil Lennon, the man who plucked him from the footballing wilderness and semi-retirement in Belgium and presented a platform to revive his international ambitions.

Gudjohnsen returned to Bolton last December, 14 years after he first left to join Chelsea, in a warmly-welcomed deal that summed up the good vibes then circulating under new boss Lennon.

With the nation tuned in once again, the manager insisted the decision was no gimmick – and that even at the age of 36 he had plenty to offer Wanderers’ cause in the Championship.

And Lennon was proved entirely right. As well as providing four goals, a raft of positive headlines and some much-needed star quality, Gudjohnsen became a mentor to some of the younger players in the squad.

He beamed with pride after wearing the captain’s armband against his former club Fulham in February, and looked a good bet to land the role again this season.

“I thought I’d done it all in football but then you get something like this come along,” he said of the captaincy. “The game can always surprise you.”

Gudjohnsen’s return to Bolton carried with it a personal agenda. Iceland had made an encouraging start to the European Championship qualifiers and after 18 months out of action for his country, the striker needed regular club football to further his chances of making a first-ever major tournament next summer.

He returned to the international fold in glorious style in April, scoring against Kazakhstan, and then to cap off a week that had also seen his wife give birth to a baby daughter back home in Spain, netted a valuable equaliser for his club against Blackpool.

The marriage of convenience between club and player had been a successful one – just as it had been earlier in his career when he left PSV Eindhoven as a teenager after a serious injury and was transformed by Colin Todd and Sam Allardyce into a multi-million pound player who would go on to lift most of Europe’s major silverware.

Gudjohnsen’s contract was put on the backburner this summer as he helped Iceland continue their Euro ambitions.

In recent weeks, though, there has been increasing suggestion that talks about an extended deal were not going well.

Tight finances at the Macron Stadium cannot have come as any surprise, after all they have dominated the news agenda since the end of last season.

Wanderers are taking strong measures to cut costs, and have already flexed their muscles by allowing former skipper Matt Mills to leave for nothing rather than accede to his demands. The same can be said for successfully holding on to midfielder Darren Pratley.

The Whites have had to play hard ball, even if it meant losing their most recognisable name. And with reports from Gudjohnsen’s homeland claiming a deal in China is looking extremely likely, it appears one of last season’s feel-good stories may have come to a rather abrupt end.

Wanderers fans looked on the bright side yesterday – many claiming that while the veteran was good value last season, he would not offer enough games to substantiate the outlay in wages.

Others pointed out that with Gudjohnsen out of the equation there could be more game time for talented youngster Zach Clough, perhaps now Wanderers’ major jewel in the crown?

Unless there is a late and rather surprising reconciliation, the biggest plus for Lennon could be that he gets to re-invest funds earmarked for Gudjohnsen elsewhere.

And in a summer when every penny counts, that is no small reward for the Wanderers boss.