Paul Scholes could miss the start of the Premiership season after Manchester United confirmed that he will undergo an exploratory knee operation.

Scholes injured his knee during the pre-season tour of Asia and returned home to Manchester five days early.

Manager Sir Alex Ferguson told MUTV: “Paul fell on his knee in the last game. We’ve sent him home for arthroscopy to see what kind of damage there is.

“We don’t think it’s serious but it could keep him out for three weeks or a month.”

On Monday, United beat Shenzhen 6-0 with goals coming from Nani, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, John O’Shea and Chris Eagles.