The Clarets have been instructed to pay a fee of £500,000 plus add-ons for defender Richard Eckersley.

The fee for the former Manchester United full-back was set by an FA tribunal after the two clubs failed to reach an agreement on the value of the player, who rejected a new contract at Old Trafford last summer.

United had been hoping to secure a sum of over £1 million plus add-ons for the 20-year-old, who came through the youth ranks with the Barclays Premier League champions to make a handful of substitute appearances at first-team level.

Burnley's valuation of the player, who agreed a four-year deal at Turf Moor last summer but is yet to start a top-flight game this season, was significantly lower, making it a successful piece of business for the Clarets.

"The outcome is satisfactory," said Burnley's chief executive Paul Fletcher.

"When the smallest club in the league tries to take on the biggest club in the league you always wonder how it's going to end up.

"But we thank the tribunal for taking a common sense approach to this.

"We have always valued the player around the £300,000 mark until he starts establishing himself in the first-team."

Richard Eckersley in Carling Cup action

Fletcher added: "When Manchester United were asking a million-plus we thought we had to stand up and be counted and that's what we did.

"The tribunal was represented by administrators of the Premier League who have hopefully seen the common sense of the way Burnley tries to run its business with sensible numbers, rather than allowing ourselves to get into financial difficulties further down the line."

Fletcher attended the hearing in Manchester, along with Brian Laws, who inherited Ecklersley as part of his first-team squad after replacing Owen Coyle as manager, while manager Alex Ferguson and chief executive David Gill, along with club lawyers, were part of the United team giving evidence.