I believe it was all bovine excretia anyway, similar to the rags modus operandi of building up rumours that they are in the market for some big superstar or other, his signing is imminent, etc: but it never materialises, instead they end up with someone who was at his peak 15/20 years ago and is now plying his trade with some obscure non-league club somewhere in the Orkney Islands.
The facts as I see them are that Bellingham never had any intention of going to the dippers. Why would he? They are a mid-table club still reliving the days of the 70's and early 80's, they are owned by a group of Americans with absolutely no vision - and no intention of funding a vision even if they had one.
The squad needs a complete overhaul and Bingo is finished in the Premiership. They are a club whose followers have a history that 1920's Chicago would have been proud of, and the reputation of the club itself has long been in the gutters and the sewers, cavorting with Pennywise and his ilk, terrifying the local kids into submission ('Come with us, La. Or the nasty oil monster will kidnap you and force you to the Etihad').
I don't think it's a given that he's coming to City, but if any English club does sign him I would think it's fair to say that club would more than likely be us, not Stan Knife and the Slum Dwellers of Shrinefield.