I say we have spent big on players.
The stupid money being paid is only because of £ity & Chelsea's billionaire owners, and has been a recent thing. And, even then, stupid money being paid for players is still a rare thing, when set against all transfers that take place around the world. If you take £ity and Chelsea out of the equation, no one could say we are a poor club or that we are not prepared to pay for the right player.
I'm not saying we are poor. However we don't spend big on players.
Bentley, Modric and Bent all cost around £15million and are our biggest signings.
Man Utd paid £30 for Veron, Rio and Rooney before the Arabs of Man City and Roman of Chelsea came along.
Our wage budget compared to our rivals (Utd, City, Chelsea, Arsenal & Liverpool) is tiny.