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 Güler 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 Güler, 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 Barça."