Not sure how many people have actually read the Ornstein article before freaking out but it’s not exactly brimming with authoritative content, it reads like it’s come from somewhere reliable without ever really stating whether it’s opinion or something more.
There seems to be a view that Athletic equals reliable, when the reality is that they’ve developed a reputation as being reliable by wording things in a certain way, not saying anything is actually ‘done’ until it is (or that bids have been submitted etc,) but then regularly post this kind of stuff when they need clicks (ie the start of an international window,) knowing that it will be largely forgotten about by the time that the thing they’re reporting on actually happens. Ornstein, for example, came out with huge amounts of waffle regarding Salah’s contract which people on here (myself included,) got quite wound up by as they were perceived to be ‘reliable’.
All of the above said, if we don’t end up signing him due to the fee involved when it was blatantly obvious he was going to be hugely expensive then the club will rightly get absolute pelters for it, the only reason it won’t end in protests will be because it concerns a transfer rather than something more fundamentally important to the club from a value perspective. I’d imagine that the PR section of the club is SURELY aware of this and therefore aren’t leaking stories to the likes of Ornstein that we’re backing out of a deal for Bellingham due to the costs involved, you’d think if they were trying to pull a fast one on this they’d be a bit smarter in how they deliver the news.