When did we ever have players of the quality of Zidane, Original Ronaldo, Kaka, Raul, Figo, Cannavaro, Michael Laudrup to name just a few!
We've had some top players but even current Madrid players like Modric, Bale, Benzema, Kroos are better than a lot of what we've had during the PL era.
We didn't buy from Madrid(certainly not their prime players) because Madrid is viewed as the pinnacle of European football.
It's just silly and biased to suggest we've always had equal or better quality players.