It's trickier to get out of this wages mess than people think. There seemed to be this very simplistic expectation that just because the likes of Pogba, Matic, Lingard, Mata etc were to leave, we'd see a substantial difference moving forward.
The reality is we won't, not any time soon. It would require a slow overhaul that will take years to come to fruition. Firstly you have to buy new players to replace everyone, which is a big initial cost and then they have an expectation of being paid like the footballer that demands such a fee. They're also fully aware of what our squad gets paid and then to attract them we have to offer on a similar level. Agents get hold of that stuff so then you either pay it or you don't, and then you're not getting the player the club wants.
It can be done of course, but it requires careful consideration of every incoming, and every renewal. It would require some pain of letting players go, some on free transfers, which would then have people saying we're a terrible selling club. We'd have to accept missing some targets too, which would also cause complaints.
It's not something we'll solve in a couple of windows and with the likes of Varane and Casemiro it doesn't look like wage savings are a big priority.