Manager Alex Ferguson will now be without the left-sided player for all of pre-season training as well as the season-opening clash with Everton at Goodison Park on August 13.

Ferguson has put a five-to-six week timescale on his recovery but, even if versatile star returns as quickly as his manager hopes, it would also still rule him out of the first leg of United’s Champions League qualifier and their four-match Far East tour at the end of the month.

It is the latest in a series of injury setbacks for Fortune, who has been limited to just 126 United apperances since joining the club in 1999.

Although he has rarely looked like becoming a first choice in Ferguson’s starting line-up, he has proved himself to be a useful utility man and came on as substitute at the Millennium Stadium in May when the Red Devils lost the FA Cup final to Arsenal on penalties.