We had a real exceptional talent in Ronaldo though, most of the players we are talking about are good players just looking to improve their careers with an upwards move, and most clubs get that and have a strong cycle of ins and outs that keep the club moving along well, like Atletico who have lost 4 top strikers over the last decade and have actually gotten stronger as a team.
Fair play with that example, however history shows that you can't continue like this forever. More importantly, only the future will tell whether a departure of their world star Simeone will harm them or they are simply that good and can replace him or anyone without much hassle. Maybe he's their answer to Ronaldo, their ying to yang. This time it's not the player, it's the coach. We'll see, mate.
It's always depending on the state of the club. For United Ronaldo was the exceptional talent, but for Aston Villa Benteke was the star man. From my knowledge a lot of clubs suffer after the loss of a such a talent. I simply wouldn't take the risk when it's not necessary. We're still talking about a football club, i take talent over money, but perhaps i'm a bit delusional, i know that some clubs have been run like a business.
Agree to disagree!