Manchester City are standing firm in their insistence that Carlos Tevez will not be made available for loan.
Officials from AC Milan are set to meet with representatives from City on Thursday to discuss a possible deal for the Argentinian striker.
Milan have proposed taking the 27-year-old on a free loan in January with a promise to buy him permanently in the summer.
Yet City have long said they are only interested in selling the player and manager Roberto Mancini again underlined that stance on Tuesday.
Mancini said: "Milan know they can't get him on loan, they know it very well. But if they want to buy Carlos, for us, that is okay.
"We hope that Carlos can find a good solution for him, and that he can come back and play football. But they can't have him on loan. This is sure, 100%. The best solution for us is to sell him."
Tevez remains in Argentina ahead of a possible move when the transfer opens next month.
Paris Saint-Germain have also been heavily linked with the former West Ham and Manchester United forward but Milan would appear the front-runners, if they can find a deal to suit City.
City, the Barclays Premier League leaders, are back in action when Stoke visit the Etihad Stadium.
The Potters were Mancini's first opponents after he was appointed two years ago this week.
City won that game but were given a torrid time by Tony Pulis' men when the sides met three times in February 2010, being held to two draws and losing an FA Cup replay.
City redressed the balance with two victories over them in a week last May, including the FA Cup final, but Stoke are now in fine form after four successive wins.
Mancini said: "They are a very difficult team. It will be a tough game.
"Also we play every three days, so tomorrow we must play a good game.
"We should play football very well but against Stoke it is always very difficult."
Stoke central defender Robert Huth believes revenge will not be on the agenda when the Potters bid to extend their winning streak to five games against City.
The German, who scored in the 2-1 victory at Wolves, has predicted a difficult time against a City side leading the table after winning their past 15 home matches.
Huth said of the FA Cup final defeat: "It doesn't mean anything really, that happened seven or eight months ago.
"They won the game fair and square and we have moved on from that.
"We don't want any sort of revenge, we are just concerned about getting the results we want, for us, and not worrying about whether it impacts the other side or not."
Huth has been enthused by City's run in the league and also progress to the last 32 of the Europa League.
"It's been a great few weeks for us in terms of picking up points and progressing in Europe, but we know that Wednesday night will be incredibly tough for us," he told the club website, www.stokecityfc.com.
"They are one of the best sides in the country, if not Europe, so we are under absolutely no illusions as to the size of the task in front of us because they are going so well at the moment.
"We have had a few good results though so we can take that into the game with us; but even with that we know it will be an incredibly tough evening for us. We will give it our best shot though."
Stoke could be without both Ryan Shawcross and Glenn Whelan for the difficult trip.
Defender Shawcross is definitely out as he is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card in the win at Wolves.
Midfielder Whelan is a doubt with a calf muscle injury suffered at Molineux and full-back Andy Wilkinson is likely to miss out again with a back problem.
Source: DSG
Source: DSG