Costa, 31, was sentenced to six months in jail, but instead agreed to pay an additional fine of €36,000 on top of his initial fine to avoid serving time, as is customary in Spain for prison terms of under two years for non-violent crimes.

The Spanish international was accused of failing to declare payments totalling over €5.15 million from his move to Chelsea in 2014.

He also concealed more than €1 million in image rights.

The Spain international last year paid “€1.14 million, fully repaying his tax debt, interest included”, which facilitated the deal struck with Spanish prosecutors, a court decision seen by AFP read.

Costa, who rejoined Atletico in 2017, appeared in a Madrid court on Thursday wearing a mask due to the coronavirus pandemic, for a short hearing to finalise the agreement with prosecutors.

Spanish tax authorities have pursued a number of top footballers in recent years, including Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Last year, a Spanish court in January handed Portugal captain Ronaldo a suspended two-year prison sentence for committing tax fraud when he was at Real Madrid.

The player, who joined Italian side Juventus in 2018, also agreed to pay €18.8 million in fines and back taxes to settle the case, according to judicial sources.

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi paid a €2 million fine in 2016 in his own tax wrangle and received a 21-month jail term.

The prison sentence was later reduced to a further fine of €252,000, equivalent to €400 per day of the original term.