For the second time in 12 months, Nico held talks with Barca before rejecting the Catalans and signing a new contract with Athletic.
"We weren't the ones who sought out Nico. If a great player like Nico tells us he wants to come, when his agent contacts us, we talk, and that's how it went. That's how football works," Deco told Mundo Deportivo.
"The player, for some reason, didn't accept the terms offered, the agent has his own interests, and we don't know exactly how the situation evolved, but there's no controversy."
Asked why the deal fell through, Deco continued: "We said we didn't accept the conditions imposed on us, because no player can impose conditions on us, and in the end nothing happened. We gave them a deadline to get a response, but they didn't respond; they went their own way and we went ours."
Deco finally expressed some annoyance at Athletic's behavior regarding comments about Barcelona's financial problems with LaLiga: "I don't want to get involved in matters that aren't my responsibility. I deal with the players and the day-to-day management of the club, but I don't think Bilbao is an example to follow in this regard.
"We weren't the ones looking for their player, we weren't the ones chasing their player. They should be more concerned about his agent, who came to Barça several times to offer us the player."