Im not defending ENIC here as they are a bunch of parasitic shit stains, but they did blow £52M on N'Dombele in the expectation/hope he'd be that prime player. Its very rare they pump a big fee into a single player of known quality though, you could argue Simons and Solanke fit into that category (and Richarlison I guess, still dont know why we signed him). Instead, its based on a lot of data and that *hope* word again. None of these names above were truly the finshed article : players other teams were desperate to sign.
The problem is we've spent loads of money on shit players, and too many of them. Quantity over quality. I always use Liverpool as the best example - they sold Coutinho for big dollar, then used the entire fee (and added more money to the pot) to buy VVD and Alisson, two world class players in positions they needed quality.
ENIC would take the money, add none to it, keep some of the fee in the bank, then spend whats left on 5 players who they hope come good who will all be young (for potential resale value) or absolute journeymen to fill squad holes rather than first team quality. That is why we never compete and never will with them - an INVESTMENT company - in charge. The football club is an investment, they have no desire to speculate for true success as long as the easy money rolls in every year from being in the PL.
Every manager who has been here under their tenure says the same thing - wanted "X" player but never got them and were given a "profile player" instead. Something similar, cheaper, not as good. From Arry wanting Tevez and getting Saha, Poch wanting anything and getting FUCK ALL for 18 months, to Conte wanting Bastoni (who admittedly didnt want to come) and Porro - instead getting Lenglet on a loan and Porro AFTER he'd been sacked, to Ange wanting Neto etc etc etc. The evidence is overwhelming, its a story that is repeated over and over again, they cant even deny it as a one off as its so regular. Obviously we shouldnt expect to get every player that a mananger wants - thats unrealistic, there is a lot of competition out there for the best players - but we should at least COMPETE. And we dont. As the 9th richest club in world football. ENIC in a nutshell.