Hector Bellerin will miss the start of next season as he continues his recovery from knee surgery.

The Arsenal defender was originally ruled out for “six to nine months” after travelling to Spain in January to undergo an operation on the anterior cruciate ligaments in his left knee, having been stretchered off against Chelsea a few days earlier.

Bellerin has made good progress with the club’s Head of Sports Medicine and Athletic Performance, Des Ryan, claiming in March that the 24-year-old could return “at an even higher level”.

The best-case scenario was that Bellerin would be available to play some part in pre-season ahead of Arsenal’s opening Premier League match against Newcastle on August 11 but Standard Sport understands he will not be ready in time.

No exact return date has been specified as yet but he is expected to miss several weeks of the new campaign at the very least.

Arsenal didn't officially confirm an update when contacted by Standard Sport on Tuesday morning.

The news is something of a blow to head coach Unai Emery having already allowed veteran full-back Stephan Lichtsteiner to leave the club following their decision not to take up the option of a one-year extension to his contract.

Emery has Ainsley Maitland-Niles to call on but the youngster prefers to operate as a central midfielder and so Bellerin’s absence could force the club to consider external alternatives at right-back.

The Gunners have explored the possibility of signing Paris Saint-Germain defender Thomas Meunier but reports in France suggest the Ligue 1 champions are demanding £30m, a figure which would almost certainly be beyond Arsenal given their modest transfer budget of around £40m, excluding player sales.