SYDNEY SWANS star Lance Franklin's return to the club has hit a hurdle with the forward forced to have surgery to fix a recurring finger injury.

Franklin will have a minor operation to repair a bone spur that has limited his ball handling since returning to pre-season training last week.

The three-time Coleman medallist has trained well and hasn't missed a session since he started training after taking a break from the game on the eve of last season's finals series to treat an ongoing mental illness.

New-look Franklin speaks out ahead of pre-season

Swans physiotherapist Matt Cameron said Franklin should be ready to resume with his teammates when the players return after the Christmas break on January 4.

“(The injury) is bothering him with the marking and tackling work that he’s been doing this pre-season,” Cameron said.

“There’s a little bone spur irritating the nerve and the tendon isn’t quite working properly.

“He’ll go in for an operation this week to tidy it up. We’ve timed it so he’ll be right by January.”

Recruit Michael Talia has also had surgery after he dislocated a finger during a tackling drill, while co-captain Jarrad McVeigh and youngster Zak Jones are making progress after off-season knee operations.

McVeigh had surgery to repair the knee he damaged in the Swans' loss to North Melbourne in last season's semi-final at ANZ Stadium, and he's been absent from the training track for the past three months.

"Jarrad has been training inside and on the bike a fair bit," he added.

"But he gets a Christmas present and will start running then so you’ll start seeing him out there in January."

Luke Parker (ankle), Kieren Jack (knee) and Sam Reid (hamstring) have been training in a limited capacity after recovering from season ending injuries, while Ben McGlynn (calf), Isaac Heeney (knee), Jordan Foote (shin) and Sam Naismith (groin) are also on modified programs.