…and my Red Issue Forum fantasy league team will need some tinkering. Someone get Fergie on the phone!
Guardian reports:
'Paul Scholes will undergo knee surgery tomorrow that will rule him out of the start of the new season after flying home last night from Manchester United's far east tour with a suspected cartilage injury.
'With just over a fortnight to the start of their title defence, Ferguson is facing the unhappy prospect of being without two senior midfielders, meaning either Darren Fletcher or John O'Shea could be pressed into service alongside Michael Carrick.
'The South Korean midfielder Park Ji-sung has been ruled out until the new year after undergoing major knee surgery this summer while Owen Hargreaves has yet to make an appearance in the far east due to a troublesome tendinitis problem that is likely to force him out of Friday's tour finale against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical in China.
'Scholes will miss the Community Shield game against Chelsea on August 5 and the Premier League opener against Reading a week later but Ferguson remains hopeful that the former England midfielder will not face a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
'"Paul felt his knee in his last game [against FC Seoul], so we had a scan done and it showed some discolourment around the cartilage area," said Ferguson.
'"He has gone home to have a scope to assess the damage. We don't think it's serious but we need to check it out. Because he has had a scope, though, he will be out for three to four weeks."'