He's spot on though.

Well, maybe not spot on, but he has a point.
Not really. Actually, applying simple mathematics to the transfer market is extremely dumb, because you are ignoring every single other factor involved in a transfer.
What is the actual cost of Jovetic (or similar)? Would the club sell him to us? Would the player join us? How much would the player earn, and how does this affect the salary structure of the club? One of those things not adding up equals a failed big transfer, as we have seen so far.
Then you have the reasoning for buying Peluso or Padoin, which seem pretty obvious. Players the coach knows, who are in the peak years of their careers, who can play multiple positions, who will sit on the bench for spells and not grumble, who always work hard when they get the chance to play.
By the logic that we can not buy 5-6 squad players and use the money to buy a star player, we could perhaps not buy any players for two transfer windows and sign Ronaldo instead.
It should be clear by now that the strength of Conte's team is the squad. We will get someone, either brought or made, but it will be under our conditions. The idea is that gradually we will be able to increase our budget in all areas, which makes big moves easier.