Diego Simeone dodged questions relating to Antoine Griezmann on Friday after reports claimed the France international negotiated a €14 million (£12.36m/$15.42m) signing-on fee with Barcelona while still an Atletico Madrid player.
Griezmann joined Barca in July when the Catalan club deposited the €120m (£107m/$134m) to activate his release clause, which had dropped from €200m (£178m/$221m) at the start of that month.
It brought an end to prolonged speculation about the attacker's future, though Atletico were adamant Barca and the player had struck some form of deal before July, meaning they felt they were owed the original release clause fee.