Paris Saint-Germain boss Unai Emery blamed a transcription error after Barcelona's Robert Fernandez suggested he had lied by telling Ernesto Valverde the Catalan club did not make an offer for Marco Verratti this summer.
Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu confirmed the club's interest in signing Verratti in July, although Paris Saint-Germain's reluctance to sell meant a deal was not possible.
Speaking with new Barca coach Valverde at the UEFA managers' summit in Nyon, though, Emery said: "I'm sure Barcelona like Verratti, it's normal to like him, but they never went for him."
Asked about Emery's claim -- which was caught on camera -- Barca sporting director Robert said on Saturday: "That's not true. I personally spoke with Emery, I know him from his time at Valencia and he knows full well that Verratti is a player we wanted."
Emery then wrote in a post on Twitter: "Robert and I have a great friendship which dates back to Valencia.
"We [Emery and Robert] talked about Verratti two months ago and everything was left clear.
"The false controversy has come up due to an inaccurate transcription of my chat with Valverde in Nyon, which wasn't true to what I really said in a conversation about Verratti, among other things.
"From there, the related reports that have appeared in recent days have no basis in reality."
Verratti himself confirmed in August there had been "something" with Barca but said he decided to stay at PSG.
After failing to land Verratti, Barca moved for several other midfield players, eventually signing Brazil's Paulinho from Guangzhou Evergrande for €40 million.