Barcelona vice-president Susana Monje admits they could not afford to sign Nolito in January.
The Manchester City attacker was still with Celta Vigo at the time, but Barca couldn't fit him in their budget last season.
Monje stated: "At the time we were already talking about extreme prudence. We have seen that the year continued to improve.
"But in the month of January, we were not balanced and we did not have the security of balancing the year's accounts.
"The recommendation existed, but that is all it was. At that time, it was decided to sollow this recommendation."
The forward stayed at Celta and nobody came in to reinforce the team in the winter market.
Nolito will not arrive this summer either, after accepting the offer that came in from Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.