I disagree that there's anything about it that's negative largely because I think it's all very deliberate. This is not accidental. I believe we're following exactly the trajectory that Olympique Lyonnais followed when they went in a few years from unknown provincial nobodies to European powerhouse. Buy anyone you think is cheap, sell anyone you think is expensive, don't buy kids, offload old players and have no emotional attachment to players. That's a quick précis of a bigger strategy but it worked for them and it's working for us. (I also don't think we sold Mane for too little. About the right price for his good games but way, way overpriced for the games where he wasn't effective.)
I also think that you're missing something in your IT analogy. Yes, your guys are headhunted but before that you get three years out of grossly underpriced talent before passing them off for daft money to fund yet more underpriced talent. That's the way to (a) perform - you have good people and (b) get better - every year your war chest grows.
Finally, I don't care if players are playing because they love us or if it's to impress their next team. They are still playing well for us, which I'd have thought we all want.
Finally, finally, I expect to see exactly the same post towards the end of the transfer window next summer. If I could be bothered, I'd dig one up from last year for fun.
Vin