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Sir Alex Ferguson is to have hip surgery this summer - and could miss the start of the new season.

The Manchester United boss, 71, has been troubled by a hip problem for some time and will go under the knife before the Premier League campaign kicks off. But with only 18 days between United returning from their pre-season tour and the opening day of the league season, Fergie has left himself battling to be fit in time.

And senior United sources say they would be “amazed” if Ferguson - who could need a walking stick to aid his recovery - is in the dug-out for the start of next term in August.

Ferguson has planned the operation so he does not miss United’s three-week pre-season tour of Thailand, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong this summer.

United last night confirmed Ferguson is to have an operation, but stressed it will have no impact on his future at the club.

United do not return from their pre-season tour until July 30 and play Manchester City or Wigan in the Community Shield at Wembley on August 11.

With Ferguson set for surgery in early August, that leaves little time for him to make a full recovery and be back in the dugout for that game.

(Image: Getty)

The new Premier League season starts on August 17 and it is not clear if Ferguson will have recovered in time to oversee the first game of United’s title defence.

Ferguson, who has been in charge of United since 1986, has always said he will carry on in the role as long as his health allows him to do so.

The United boss had a pacemaker fitted in 2004, when he was 62, after being diagnosed with a heart condition, and was back at work within days.

He was at the centre of a heath scare a year ago while attending a dinner in Glasgow, when he suffered a nosebleed that would not stop and was taken to hospital.

The United boss put the episode down to taking seven flights in the space of a week and said it was his body’s way of telling him to slow down.

Earlier this season Ferguson addressed the issue of his retirement and said: “This question comes up more and more simply because, as each year goes on, I get older.

(Image: Stu Forster)

“It’s a fact of life. I can’t avoid that. The issue is how I feel within myself.

“As you get older, you are not guaranteed your health. No-one is when you get into your 70s. Touch wood, my health remains for a long time yet.

“At the moment, everything is hunky dory, but you never know.”

Ferguson has only missed three games during his 1,497-match United reign and will be determined his hip surgery does not see him add to that list.

He missed a Manchester derby at Maine Road - which United won 1-0 in his absence - in November 2000 to attend son Mark’s wedding in South Africa.

The United boss also missed a 3-2 defeat to Middlesbrough, at Old Trafford in 1998, to attend a funeral. The other game from which he was absent was a League Cup tie at Scunthorpe in 2010, when he was in Spain scouting United keeper David De Gea.

Mirror Sport revealed yesterday that Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp is the man the United hierarchy currently favour a successor when Ferguson decides to retire.