Jonathan Woodgate has had minor surgery on the groin injury that kept him out of Tottenham's pre-season games.
The defender had an operation on the same area at the end of last season and saw a specialist in the United States.
The club have not revealed how long he will be out, but Spurs manager Harry Redknapp had already accepted he would not be fit for the start of the season.
Fellow defender Michael Dawson is not expected back until September after an Achilles tendon injury.
The blow is the latest in a long line of problems for the England defender, who joined Real Madrid from Newcastle in 2004 but only played 10 games in nearly three seasons.
A back injury kept the 29-year-old out of the 2006 World Cup but he appeared to have put his woes behind him at White Hart Lane, where he started 34 Premier League games last term.
The club said Woodgate would now start a rehabilitation programme with club physios.
