Middlesbrough have finally settled the Kike Garcia case with Real Murcia, reports Onda Regional.

Kike, 30, signed for Middlesbrough in July 2014. He joined form Spanish side Murcia and was known to then manager Aitor Karanka, who he'd worked with in the Spanish youth ranks.

In one-and-a-half seasons he would score 15 Championship goals for the club, returning to Spain with Eibar in 2016.

The legalities arose when Kike left for Eibar, and Middlesbrough secured promotion to the Premier League in the coming months.

Because of their promotion, Murcia claimed that Boro owed them a bonus fee (believed to be £850,000) as the move was completed after the winter transfer window that season.

Boro refused to pay-up, and Murcia sought FIFA's advise, who ruled in favour of the Spanish side. However, Boro would continue to fight their corner, arguing that Kike was not their player during the time of their promotion, hence Murcia weren't owed the bonus.

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The debate was set to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, but now it's understood that the two clubs have reached an out-of-court agreement.

Spanish outlet Onda Regional published the following statement yesterday:

"Real Murcia has reported that they have reached an agreement with Middlesbrough in relation to the clause of the contract of Kike Garcia - both clubs have reached an agreement and this matter has ended.”

What exactly the agreement entails is as yet unknown, but Murcia are understood to be on the brink of bankruptcy.

The verdict

This whole saga has portrayed both clubs in a bad light. It's a simple matter that's taken almost half a decade to sort, and it remains to be seen whether fans will ever discover the real outcome of it all.

A decent enough player in his time at Boro though, and the ongoing debate won't tarnish his own reputation amongst fans.