Ba’s initial permanent move to Stoke collapsed after the striker failed a medical at the Britannia Stadium.
Tanner has now revealed that Stoke are keen on signing the striker on loan instead, a deal that the Bundesliga side would not be interested in.
“The Stoke manager is desperate to land Demba Ba,” Hoffenheim’s general manager Ernst Tanner told the Heilbronner Stimme newspaper.
“The failed medical by Demba appears to me just an element of show in the whole transfer saga.
“Stoke are so keen on Demba that they have now come up with a proposal to sign Demba Ba on loan.
“This is certainly nothing we are going to agree to, but we will keep staying in touch with Stoke City though.
“It’s a fact that we had everything done with Stoke regarding a transfer before Demba Ba failed to get through that medical.”
Tanner added: “We are certain in our viewpoint that Demba Ba is not going to play for us anymore and we will be sitting down on Monday to discuss which strategy will be pursued by Hoffenheim 1899 in the forthcoming aspects of this affair.”
