Liverpool demanded €200 million ($297.3 million) for Philippe Coutinho when Barcelona made a deadline day bid to sign the Brazilian midfielder, according to director Albert Soler.

But source at the Reds have denied any such figure was put forward, claiming they told Barcelona several times that the Brazilian was "not for sale", and never wavered from that position.

"On [Saturday AEST], after weeks of offers and talks, Liverpool put a price on the player that we wanted [Coutinho], a price of €200 million and we decided we wouldn't do it," Soler claimed at a news conference after the transfer window closed this weekend."

"That's an example of the way football is now. This club and this board will not get involved in that. What's happened in the transfer market this summer has taken us to a totally different model of football which we're not used to."

Barcelona has struggled to land big targets this transfer window in the wake of seeing Neymar leave for Paris Saint-Germain in a world record €222 million ($330 million) deal. Ousmane Dembele arrived at the LaLiga giant from Borussia Dortmund for a fee in excess of $155 million, but even that move was protracted at best and the rest of the money collected from Neymar's sale has yet to be spent.

"We're in a market where a goalkeeper has gone for €50 million," Soler continued. "We won't get involved in that. We won't put the club at risk. UEFA and the ECA have to take a decision and reflect on what's going on.

"We don't usually talk about how the negotiations go. Liverpool put €200 million on the table and we did not accept it. We appreciate the effort that the player made to come [by handing in a transfer request], but we can't do anything else now."

Soler also took the opportunity to send a "message of peace" to fans concerned by the fact Lionel Messi has yet to sign his new contract.

Messi agreed an extension running to 2021 in July, but has yet to put pen to paper, with the 30-year-old reportedly waiting to see the club's transfer dealings after the departure of Neymar.

Despite widespread criticism of their transfer window as a whole, Soler claims there is no problem with Messi's contract and remains adamant it will be signed when the time is right.

"There is no problem, I want to send a message of peace to the members," Soler said. 

"There has been the United States tour, we've had international duty, the season starting, there is absolutely no problem where Messi is concerned."

Soler denied suggestions the Barcelona board were angry with Neymar's former team-mates for not alerting them to his potential exit, but accepted his move impacted the club's ability to make new signings.

"Let's not get into players, they have a personal life, we respect that and we understand," Soler added. "We don't expect explanations from players. We manage the club from the situations that we are confronted by.

"When we received the sense that PSG [was] talking to Neymar, this was on the US tour, this was when we started working.

"Neymar is a very difficult player to replace so it has nothing to do with whether the money we received was good or bad.

"The real problem is not how much money we have, the problem is Neymar has gone.

"Let's face the facts; Neymar's departure has affected us in a sporting sense and that has had an effect on our negotiations."