Barcelona president Joan Laporta has defended the club after Arda Guler signed for Real Madrid.
Despite a buyout clause of 17.5m, the price paid by Real Madrid landed at 20m plus 10m in bonuses.
Fenerbahce also received a resale clause of 20 percent.
Laporta has now explained what happened around the attacking midfielder.
"We had an agreement with the player and we were ready to pay Fenerbahce 17.5m. But then other clubs came in, like Real Madrid, and paid much more. That's when we thought we shouldn't end up in a bidding war. We have other good players," he told Mundo Deportivo.
"We moved away from the Gler operation because of the scope it reached. We thought it would be a mistake on our part. There are more players that I think we can get without going into such a bidding war. We could have competed for Gler, but we decided not to. We have a certain limit and we will not cross it. Neither with Arda nor with other players who want to come to Bara."
