Juventus general manager Beppe Marotta has branded Schalke a "mysterious club" for the way they conducted negotiations over the transfer of Julian Draxler.
Draxler, 21, moved to Wolfsburg on the last day of the transfer window, despite having been linked with Juve for much of the summer.
The Bianconeri's initial offer was rejected out of hand by Schalke, although Marotta says it was the Bundesliga side's demands and not his club's offer which was laughable.
"I said at Villar [on Aug. 17] that there were some difficulties for Draxler," Marotta told Gazzetta dello Sport, dismissing rumours that he had been in a constant dialogue with Schalke and increased his initial offer, which was reported to have been lower than €15 million.
"Talks with Schalke, who are a mysterious club, were difficult. We pulled out because their demands were disproportionate. €36m is an exaggeration, and then the player didn't want to come either.
"I'm disappointed not for the fact that we didn't get him, but that there was nobody to negotiate with."
Marotta went on to speak about midfielder Paul Pogba, who could well leave Turin next year despite being convinced to remain at Juve for the season.
"If he continues the way he is going, he is going to be worth in excess of €100m next year, which we already had offered to us and this is something which we are proud of," said Marotta, who also confirmed a claim made by Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis that Juve had made a bid for Marek Hamsik.
"He would have suited us, considering he has a lot of experience in Italy," Marotta said. "He's a player we had been working on in the background for a month."
At the end of the transfer window, Juve were Serie A's biggest spenders, although they also recouped a lot from the sales of Arturo Vidal and Kingsley Coman and the departures of Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente -- three of the club's biggest earners.
Marotta was generally satisfied with his work this summer and does not see the team any weaker than last year, although he says Inter Milan can be prouder of the work they have done.
"We need to find some continuity with a mix of young and less young players, and it is a difficult challenge to rebuild a winning squad," Marotta said. "We are obliged to win again, even this year. It's going to be hard to do better than last year because that would entail winning the Champions League.
"But we are building a side with good prospects; a side which will do better than we have done in recent years as they gain experience, but we still want to win and if we do manage to repeat what we did [last season], that would be extraordinary.
"Inter have changed a lot and they are competitive, while Roma were already strong. I think the 'Oscar' for the best transfer dealings this year would go to Inter, but now they've got to show their value on the field."
Inter already have a six-point advantage in Serie A over Juve, who have lost their opening two games and made their worst start to a season since 1912.