Scott Parker could miss the start of the Barclays Premier League season amid fears the Tottenham midfielder may need surgery on his troublesome achilles.

With Spurs set to appoint Andre Villas-Boas as their manager next week, the Portuguese will have an immediate problem to solve.

Red zone: Scott Parker looks set to have surgery on his troublesome achilles

Roy Hodgson said Parker was struggling with the injury during England’s European

Championship quarter-final against Italy on Sunday, having missed all but a few minutes of the final month of the domestic season with the problem.

Now Parker may need an operation to clean up the area, which in turn could delay his start to the season and rule him out of the August 15 friendly against Italy in Switzerland.

Tottenham are braced for the setback because they are pressing ahead with the pursuit of Hoffenheim’s Gylfi Sigurdsson.