My only concern with not getting free players is 2 things
1. Who will we bring in to make the team better with the same money
2. We dont know if the player will flop or not and the risk is much lower for free.
A few examples
1. Costa-40 mil-Good player and was for it at the time but has been injured. He is on high wages and also transfer fee. Hasnt made a huge impact
Berna-Same type situation
Matuidi-20 mil and somewhat high wages
Free players-Ramsey and Rabiot- Good players with high potential both on high wages but free- Both could break into our starting 11. Are they world beaters? Absolutely not
Khedira-Free-brought us good performances on the field but not a world beater by any stretch and is now past it
Pirlo,Coman,Pogba,Llorente,Alves,Barza were all good-incredible freebies
Im not so sure the freebie purchase is our issue but where we spend the big money and why. Lets say we had 75-80 to spend. Its tough to think of 3 players to bring in that have the potential impact of Ramsey,Rabiot and MDL. All are young and if 1 of them turns our great,one rotational and the other we cut for free its worth it because there isnt much money tied up. We bitch about Can and act like if we didnt get him we would have gotten some great player in his place. Thats laughable