You can't add future wage money into our current transfer coffer, it doesn't work like that. Plus, any of those players you name would have cost an equal amount of money wage wise, if not more. Nevertheless, more importantly, even if we had the money, which one of those players do you think we can actually get?
I would personally have ANYONE instead of Dembele. Or: a lot of players.
I was adding wages because people often say: BUT a player XX will be good in the future and he will cost more.
My point is:
Let's say that a player aged 21 costs 150 Millions.
But he will need 3-4 years of developing TO REACH a world class level.
In a case of Dembele, that means:
150 Millions paid for a transfer fee aged 21
Let's say 3 years of developing, that is 13M yearly (right?) for his wages and 13M for taxes.
That means that we would need to invest 150M for a transfer fee, and 26M yearly for him.
That is for 3 years of development: 150+3x26=228 Millions invested UNTIL a moment when a 24 years old player starts to play as good as expected.
Now, my point is:
= isn't it then easier and wiser to just buy a finished product like Coutinho for 165 Millions or Neymar for 222 Millions and what you see is what you get with them (from the day1)?
= instead of buying a what if player, wasting years, time and money for something which may or may not come
The only PRO in this this story is: if another club would have bought him, we couldn't get him later.
Well, Psg stole Neymar from us.
We stole Coutinho from Liverpool.
We almost stole Griezmann fom AM now.
Hazard and Pogba are somewhat available.
Other players like Salah, De Bruyne, Firmino, Kane, Eriksen weren't even tested properly by potential rich suitors.
All in all, instead of buying and developing 21 years old Dembele, I would personally, rather buy 25 year olds on their prime, for not too much higher transfers.
About eternal questions: whom could we buy?
= new players are superstars are emerging all the time
Firmino was almost a nobody 2 years ago.
Salah WAS a nobody a year and a half ago.
Mbappe didn't exist 2 years ago.
New kids are emerging each season.
And each season some player who was just good till then turns into out of this world level.