Chelsea's 50 million pound ($80 million; €58.6 million) purchase of Fernando Torres from Liverpool shocked officials at Barcelona, its director of football said Tuesday.
Raul Sanllehi said the Spanish champion "would not even consider" paying such a high fee.
"I was shocked by the amount spent. I know Barcelona would not do that signing," Sanllehi said on the sidelines of a meeting of Europe's top clubs, who discussed new UEFA rules to curb transfer spending.
However, he conceded that "Chelsea got stronger and Liverpool got weaker" by making the deal.
"An additional value of those signings was that you diminished the opponent at the same time as strengthening your own team," Sanllehi said.
The Torres deal capped a record January transfer window spree of 225 million pounds ($362 million; €265 million) by English clubs, with Chelsea accounting for more than 70 million pounds ($112 million; €82 million).
Barcelona's total spending was a modest €3 million ($4 million) on PSV Eindhoven midfielder Ibrahim Afellay - a change from its previous spending habits.
Just 18 months ago, Barcelona gave Inter Milan a reported €46 million (then $66 million) plus Samuel Eto'o to sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Ibrahimovic deal helped drive the 2009 European champion's total debts to more than €400 million.
Last year, Barcelona called on emergency refinancing after making a near €80 million loss for the season.
Sanllehi said the need for new money contributed to Barcelona striking its first deal to sell advertising space on its shirts.
The Qatar Foundation, a charitable arm of the gas-rich 2022 World Cup host, will pay Barcelona €150 million ($200 million) over the next five seasons to appear on the iconic blue-and-red kit.
"Let's not fool ourselves, we needed the money. We wouldn't have done it without a lot of money involved for sure," Sanllehi said.
Barcelona had previously gifted UNICEF, the United Nations children's agency, permission to appear on the shirt.
"We looked at the value they were offering," Sanllehi said of the Qatari deal. "Many brands want to associate with us but we've got very strict limits on who we partner with."
