Premiership: Karembeu quits Boro

Middlesbrough have agreed a £3.5m fee with Greek side Olympiakos for Christian Karembeu.

Karembeu is set to undergo a medical in Athens after the two clubs settled on the fee, but the transfer now appears to be a formality after a chase which has lasted for more than a month.

"We have agreed a fee of (US) $5m and Christian will undergo a medical," said a Boro spokesman.

"We do not expect any problems with that."

The deal represents a profit of around £1.4m for the club, who paid £2.1m for the player's services last summer.

Karembeu's departure less than 12 months after he arrived on Teesside from Spain ends another untidy foray into the foreign market for Boro.

The New Caledonia-born player left Real Madrid last summer as then Boro manager Bryan Robson attempted to strengthen his squad with proven quality.

However, he was slow to settle into Premiership football and, as the Teessiders slumped from a promising start into the depths of a desperate fight against relegation, Karembeu showed nowhere near the form which had marked him out as a top target for Robson.

Indeed, it was not until long after Terry Venables arrived at the Riverside Stadium in November that the French international - who has World Cup, European Championships and two European Cup successes to his name - started to show his quality.

Karembeu gradually grew in stature as the season drew to a close, scoring important goals against Bradford and West Ham in the final two games of the season to help secure four precious points and ease his side away from the trapdoor.

In all, he scored four goals in 32 appearances for the club, but while he eventually made his mark on the pitch, there was always a question over his long-term commitment to Boro.