IMO if a player isn't going to be part of your next trophy winning squad then there's no point breaking the bank for him. Obviously you can't put all your eggs in one basket and only rely on youth but an eye to the future at all times is important.
There's also a difference in having a player from a young and and keeping him until he retires and bringing in a player with only a couple of seasons left...
It depends on how badly we'll have to "break the bank", right? Yes, Forlan's near 32-years-old, but he seems to be in fantastic shape and it's probable he'd give us two very solid seasons of work. So, if it were my call, I wouldn't mind paying around 11-12m euros plus Tiago's contract for a January transfer. Why? I believe he'd give us a huge boost (and a legitimate chance) in fulfilling our modest ambition of a CL place this season and the next. Also, Tiago has virtually no market value, and we stand to lose an even greater sum if we end up in the EL again.
Whether 11-12m euros can be considered "breaking the bank" is up for debate, but certainly it's obvious that if a club can't spend meager amounts (relative to the market) like this, then they may as well forget about even "building a trophy-winning squad". No matter how much Marotta might invoke the name "Barcelona", we aren't anywhere close to having their setup and it'll take years upon years for that to even materialize.
I guess it's basically short-term solutions versus hope-and-pray-for-the-future ones since we seem incapable of snatching players in their primes.
As for Del Piero? Sure, there's a difference. However, it doesn't change the fact that he's way past it and is still one of our highest paid players who is currently angling for a further extension. Not to mention the fact that he occupies a "striker slot" (not necessarily a first team place, but overall in the squad) and it seems to me that his mere presence is impeding the necessary process of overhauling the department. If he were to call it quits in June, at least we'd be assured that the management would have to give the situation a hard look.