VANCOUVER — The framework for a seven-figure transfer fee that will allow 2013 MLS scoring leader Camilo to jump from the Vancouver Whitecaps to Mexican side Queretaro FC has reportedly been agreed upon.

It came after Caps management — head coach Carl Robinson, president Bob Lenarduzzi and Greg Anderson, the club’s director of pro teams — flew to Mexico late last week to meet with the disgruntled player.

“It was an interesting conversation,” Robinson, who was the only one Camilo would sit down with, said on a conference call Wednesday.

Robinson, who as an assistant had a good relationship with Camilo last season, said the conversation lasted for about 30 minutes, even though the Brazilian told him he “couldn’t speak much English, which I found quite funny.

“I made my point to him, where I stood,” said Robinson, who last week had called Camilo’s actions unprofessional. “There were a few words at higher decibels than others … we agreed on certain things and disagreed on certain things.”

The deal to end the messy attempt by Camilo to skip out on his Whitecaps contract was first reported Wednesday morning by ESPN Desportes.

But by early evening, there had still been no official confirmation from the Whitecaps. President Bob Lenarduzzi indicated there had been a slight hitch, with some work still needed to dot the ‘I’s’ and cross the ‘T’s’.

Some reports have put the transfer fee at $1.5 million. Under MLS rules, the Caps would get two-thirds of that, with the league getting the rest.

Camilo, a diminutive striker with a nose for the net, scored three goals in the Caps’ final regular season game in 2013 to finish as MLS’s leading scorer with 22.

The Caps then picked up the option on his contract in November. He made $247,000 in 2013.

Whether there was any discussion at that time about the Caps offering to reward him with a pay raise is unclear.

But Camilo and his Brazilian-based agent clearly weren’t happy and, after an initial dalliance with a club in Norway, appeared to convince Queretaro that the player was a free agent. In early January, pictures began showing up on the Mexican team’s website of Camilo in team colours and then working on the training pitch.

Robinson wouldn’t specifically detail Camilo’s unhappiness with the Caps, saying only that the player told him “what he thought in his mind had been told to him. We agreed to disagree on certain aspects of it.”

Robinson said Camilo had unfortunately “put his trust and faith” in his agent.

“Was he remorseful? That’s an answer I’ll keep between him and me at the moment.”

The Caps insisted all along that they had a legally binding contract. But when it appeared there was no chance that they would get Camilo to return, they began negotiating a transfer fee with help from the league, which has been relatively silent on the issue.

While none of the parties seemed to want to take the dispute to FIFA, or to court, the transfer fee is a tacit acknowledgment by Queretaro that the Caps did indeed have Camilo under contract.

Mike Jarosi, who practises sports law in Ohio and represents MLS players, said in a blog post on Wednesday that the resolution, while allowing all parties to move on, does set a bad precedent for the league.

“While the folks at league headquarters in New York may pat themselves on the back for their problem-solving skills while simultaneously turning a small profit, they will, at the same time, be providing high-profile carte blanche to the next player who finds himself unhappy with his contract to simply flee, with reward and without repercussion.

“And when the system of contracts breaks down, everyone loses.”

gkingston@vancouversun.com