I don't understand why people keep considering these loans as cheap. They're obviously not, since the only thing we achieve this way is delaying substantial spending (either by signing the loaned players or starting from scratch again).
And this delaying process obviously costs a fair amount to begin with, with no guaranteed return on investment (purely financial).
I don't really know the exact reasons behind these moves, maybe they were necessary, maybe they weren't. Fair enough either way, but these deals are definitely not cheap if you look beyond the short term.