Spurs skipper to miss start of the season

King will go under the knife early next week to repair a tear to his cartilage aggravated while on England duty, meaning knee operations in consecutive summers.

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"It's a routine op and it makes sense for Ledley to have it now and use the summer to recover and be back as close to the start of the season as possible," said Jol.

Spurs have finished fifth in consecutive seasons, with King suffering similar injury problems in both campaigns.

A year ago his metatarsal injury ruled him out of the World Cup before his knee operation delayed the start of his season. He then spent more than three months out with more feet problems and now faces more knee surgery.

His injury problems had sparked a whispering campaign over fears his career could be under threat, but the 26-year-old has insisted that is not the case.

"I wouldn't say it made me hurt, but it made me think about what was happening," he said shortly after his most recent comeback. "I was never worried about my career and never felt my career was going to be threatened in anyway."

His injury problems last season led him to appear in just 21 Premier League matches, but he returned in time to help Spurs finish fifth again.

He admitted the end of the season came at the wrong time for him - when he was just returning to 100% fitness - but he did have the "B" fixture against Albania to feature in, as well as full internationals against Brazil and Estonia.

England boss Steve McClaren appeared to favour King ahead of Jamie Carragher at centre-back, fielding the Spurs skipper at centre-back in the absence of Rio Ferdinand.

Regardless of whether King makes Spurs' opening fixture of the season, against Sunderland, Jol wants to increase numbers in defence and has been linked with move for Auxerre centre-back Younes Kaboul.

Jol has already signed Gareth Bale in a £10million deal but reports of a possible bid for Darren Bent have not been confirmed.