Diego Simeone hinted that Julian Alvarez may have already made a decision about his Atletico Madrid future.
Speculation over whether Alvarez will stay at Atletico has been rife in the second half of the season, with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal and Barcelona interested in his signature.
Alvarez played no part in Atletico's final match of the season, which finished 5-1 to Villarreal, who ensured they would finish above Simeone's side.
Dani Pajaro, Ayoze Perez and Georges Mikautadze had already put Villarreal 3-0 up before Marc Pubill got on the scoresheet for Atletico.
But Pape Gueye soon restored the three-goal cushion before Perez rounded off the scoring in the second half.
Following the match, the focus turned back to Alvarez, who last played a LaLiga game for Atletico on March 22 – a 3-2 defeat to Real Madrid – but Simeone could give no clarification over the forward's future.
"That's not a question for me, that's a question for Julian," Simeone told Movistar of Alvarez, who has scored 20 goals in all competitions this term.
"He is mature enough to know what he is going to do, and he surely has his decision made."
Atletico conceded four goals in the first half of a match in any competition and five goals in a single 90-minute game for the first time under Simeone (800 matches).
This comes despite achieving their best-ever goalscoring record in a single season, surpassing the 116 goals scored in 2013-14 (61 matches): 117 in 64 games.
Atletico will play in the Champions League next season after finishing fourth, but this is just the second time under Simeone they have failed to finish inside the top three.
"[It leaves] a bitter taste in my mouth. In the Champions League, exciting; in the Copa del Rey, the penalties; in the League, we've been a disaster because we haven't been able to fight for the title," Koke told Movistar+.
"We need to be higher up the table and let this serve us well for next season."
Simeone added: "I was always terrible with my grades; I didn't do very well in school. We had a season that was somewhere between good and very good.
"Champions League semi-finals, Copa del Rey final, a total of 61 matches… Villarreal plays very well and had a very good league season, but they only competed in one competition.
"We came close to catching them; we had some very good moments: the Barcelona game, the victory over Real Madrid, lots of joy for our fans, even though everyone wants to win the league, not just finish third."