THE FUTURE of Melbourne veteran Bernie Vince is in serious doubt after he suffered an AC joint injury to his shoulder on Saturday.

The club confirmed on Saturday night that the 32-year-old would have surgery on Sunday, ending his season.

The 32-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and is no certainty to earn a new deal, having signed a one-year deal at the end of last season.

Vince came from the ground 20 minutes into in the first quarter of Casey's clash with Sandringham at Casey Fields after suffering the injury.

He had been dropped from the Melbourne side that convincingly beat Gold Coast last weekend after finishing with just 11 possessions.

Vince, a veteran of 229 AFL games, joined the Demons ahead of the 2014 season after eight years at Adelaide. He won Melbourne's best and fairest award in 2015 and played his 100th game for the club against the Suns in round 20.