The 31-year-old former England international has missed United's last seven league and cup games with blurred vision, but was hoping to be back in action before the end of the month.

However, Scholes has now been told to rest for three months and is unlikely to appear again this season.

United, who are 14 points behind Chelsea in the table, released a statement confirming the midfielder needed to rest.

"Paul Scholes has a medical condition affecting the vision in his right eye," the statement said. "It is not a football related injury. This has been confirmed by a number of specialists who have all agreed that he needs to rest for a period of three months.

"Obviously it is a disappointment for Paul and Manchester United that he will miss the rest of this season.

"We look forward to having him back for pre-season training."

United are mystified by what is causing Scholes' condition. The scorer of 130 goals in 492 league and cup appearances for United complained of having difficulty seeing after the 2-2 draw at Birmingham City on December 28.

Last week, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson confessed that treatment by specialists had yet to uncover the root of the problem.

"The first message we had was that it would clear up okay, that maybe it was down to a bit of concussion," he said before United's 1-0 victory over Liverpool on Sunday.

"But his vision is still blurred, so we are sending him to another specialist to see if he can clear it up."