Marcel Brands has disputed Manchester United’s claims about Everton’s signing of Yerry Mina.
The Blues beat off competition from both the Old Trafford club and Lyon to sign Mina from Barcelona in a £30.25 million deal on transfer deadline day.
But the move has been soured by suggestions by United officials that agent demands were decisive in the Colombia international’s move to Goodison Park.
Asked about the claims, however, Everton’s director of football Brands replied: “No, no, it was really simple behind the scenes.
“I put the offer in and Barcelona asked for a totally different amount that we would never have paid. Then they said: ‘OK, we will wait until the end of the market’.
“We never changed our offer. That was a bit of a gamble because everyone was writing about Man United [wanting Mina] and Barcelona used that, agents used that, everyone used it.
“I don’t know exactly if Man United were in. The player said constantly to me: ‘I want to go to Everton’.
“That was a great thing for us but you never know if Man United comes in and offers an extra £150,000 a week – every player would like to do that.
“I don’t know exactly the situation with Man United but of course Barcelona used it. They said to me: ‘Man Utd are coming in’. I don’t know if they did but I took a bit of a risk with that.
“That’s why we were also keen on back-ups, you never know, but after the weekend before the market closed I had a confident feeling about it.”