Senegal international Ba had appeared poised to join Stoke in a £7million deal from Hoffenheim in January only for the move to fall through due to concerns over a knee injury. Ba subsequently signed for West Ham United on loan for the rest of the season and he has scored three goals in three Premier League appearances for the strugglers. The 25-year-old could get the opportunity to show Stoke what they missed out on at the weekend when the Hammers welcome Tony Pulis' side to Upton Park. However, Coates says there are no regrets regarding the decision to back out of a deal for Ba, stating the club could not gamble with such a large sum of money. "There are no qualms about the decision we made," Coates told The Sentinel. "We would have taken the player had he passed the medical. But we were strongly advised by our medical team that it was a risk we could not take. "You cannot spend large sums of money on a high-risk basis. We were disappointed, though, because we wanted to sign the player and the eventual decision was nothing to do with his ability." Ba has revealed he opted for a move to West Ham ahead of a more lucrative offer from Russian side Rubin Kazan. The Senegal striker's relationship with Hoffenheim broke down completely in January and he refused to travel with the Bundesliga club to their winter training camp in Spain when interest from West Ham emerged. Ba was unhappy at his portrayal as a mercenary and accused Hoffenheim general manager Ernst Tanner of damaging his reputation. "Mr Tanner has ruined my image in the Bundesliga," Ba said in an interview with Sport Bild magazine. "I only heard these words: 'Demba is only after money'. The truth is that I could have earned much more money elsewhere. "I was presented with an offer from Rubin Kazan. They wanted to pay a 15million euro fee. I could have earned much more there than in West Ham. "It's not all about money for me."
