Young Melbourne forward Luke Tapscott is to undergo arthroscopic hip surgery which will see him miss the first half of the AFL season.

Tapscott initially twisted his hip at training before Christmas and was able to train fully for four weeks following the holiday season break before hip pain recurred last week.

"It was decided the best course of action was for Luke to undergo surgery now in order to repair his torn labrum, so that he can rehabilitate fully and return to playing football by mid-season," said Melbourne's football operations general manager Chris Connolly.

Tapscott is expected to be sidelined for three to four months.

"We value Luke highly as a player and although this injury is disappointing, it will give him the best chance to continue his development and play quality football in the second half of the season," said Connolly.

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